State of Mind
by EmbersArmy
Summary: Stolen from his brothers before he knew them and raised along the path of evil, Raphael is loyal to his master, Hun. However, at the peak of his career, three new "creatures" show up - three new creatures that he can't bear to think might play an important role in his life. He was supposed to be the most feared criminal in the city. This wasn't supposed to happen... ON HOLD
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome! **

**I use this symbol :: to represent a jump in time or perspective. I will tell you who's POV each chapter is in and I promise I will try not to change POV very often because I know it can get confusing. **

**This is in the 2003 universe**

**I've never wrote something with Raphael as the main character before and I know he has some sort of…speech medical condition… so I think I will narrate regularly and then whenever he has dialogue I will put his accent in for EMPHASIS. **

**Cover photo by: ****Negger** on divantart

**Enjoy! And please leave a review with your honest feedback. I get more motivated when I have something to go on people. Everything is in Raphael's POV (except the prologue) unless it says otherwise Ok? Ok good. Moving right along.**

**Disclaimer: Seriously, we all know I'm not cool enough to own TMNT**

**Prologue:**

My name is Casey Jones. This story really isn't about me as much as it is about a good friend of mine. He was sick in the head like the rest of us vigilante outcasts, except he was more of a criminal then a hero. He was a bit different though, a bit more…aggressive, persuasive, and outright prevailing. I don't know how the two of us ever came to becoming acquainted, but we did, and sometimes I wonder if it should have ever even happened.

We came from two different worlds, two different stories and backgrounds. He was considered a freak of nature, I was considered a nuisance. His story, however, is one that you would rather hear over mine. If only I knew how it started, if only I knew.

**1 year earlier**

Chapter 1: **(Raphael's POV)**

The scream started in my gut and made its way up my throat and out. I jolted awake with the pain from last night's fight still aching in my arms and legs. It had been a real nasty one, probably one of my worst. But as usual, I won, and it was no surprise.

I still remember the words that were shouted at me when I finally got thrown out of…wherever I had been.

_Freak!_

_Menace! _

_Psycho!_

It didn't matter to me though. Those types of words left nothing on me. No scar, no bruise, no "hurting inside," nothing. Either I was so used to it that I just didn't care, or I was a rogue with no emotions. That's how it had to be though and I played that card with ease. If you go soft, you get pummeled into the ground with the rest of "them".

I slowly sat up off the ground with my hand cradling my forehead. I growled for no apparent reason. Maybe it was the thoughts of last night. Those nights always made me edgy. Then again, almost everything does. Once I felt strong enough to stand up, I made sure my trench coat was tight around my bulging body before I walked out onto the busy street. My arms were too big for these sleeves but I was too lazy to go steal another cloak that fit. I would have to do it soon though; I think I'm starting to loose circulation up here.

The sun struck my face like a needle on skin. I had to hold my arm up and shield it from my sensitive eyes. I wasn't use to being around the City during the day, and I honestly liked it better that way. At night there were no people to shove past you or any kids to cry because their mommy or daddy wouldn't buy them this or that. The night was quiet but it was also when the monsters came out. Monsters, like me.

My name is Raphael, and when I was a newborn, I was abducted. I can't remember much about the people who took me, I only remember feeling lots of pain and experiencing torment every single day. When I finally escaped those "aliens", I realized I was different from everyone else in this world. I realized I wasn't accepted for the thing I was, for the _mutant_ I was. Yeah, you heard me, _mutant_. Even though I don't remember much about my captors, I do remember what they did to me and how all that shit started.

As far back as I can remember, I know I was small and weak - the worst feeling in the world. I wasn't like I am now; tall, fit and powerful. I was able to fit in the palm of these human's hands and look innocent. I remember being in a cage with three others creatures like me. Once I figured out that the reflection on the cage glass was me, I realized we were all alike, me and those three others. Small, green, and something hard on our backs that we could coil into for safety. All I knew during that time was eat, sleep, do your business and look cute. If only I would've known then what I do know, I probably would have tried to find a way to kill myself in that cage. I hadn't had a taste of freedom yet and if only I knew what it was like I would have escaped sooner.

Yeah, I managed to escape. I left those other pets behind and made my way out as quickly as possible. I don't remember much about how I did it, but I did it and that's all that matters. However, my glorious freedom was short lived. Now, I knew that he was a human, but I didn't know it at the time. This human found me in an ally and took me back to his people against my will. Like I said, I was small and weak. That's when all the shit got real. I know pain, pain, misery, torment, needles, pain, sleeplessness, pain, crying, and blood. I remember it all like day, I relive it every single day. I remember my body doing weird things. Growing, becoming stronger, and becoming more powerful. My mind changed as well. I started to think differently about things. I imagined breaking out of that place and slaughtering everyone in there, making them try to withstand the things they did to me. Turn _them_ into the freak.

A few years later, I noticed I could move like them. I could stand upright and clench my now three-fingered hands into fists. I could fight. I practiced every night when they weren't watching. I would stand up in my cage and stretch my muscles and grow stouter. I grew almost three times in size but not in height, but in shear mass. My once extremely skinny arms were starting to gain a strange shape. At first I thought I was infected with something, but then one day one of the humans took their shirt off after spilling chemicals on it and I realized he too had arms with a bubbling shape. We were a bit different though, I was maybe 10x his size. My legs did the same thing too, but at a slower rate. Then I realized I could use them to kick things with excessive force. I made myself fit by night and played good mutant by day. The best part was I was doing it under the human's noses. They didn't even notice until I started to speak. It must have been 10 years later when I spoke my first word. A human told me to press a button on my cage to test my reflexes and I told him "no."

It was the best feeling of my life and the look on his face made my life worth living. I was ready to see that grown man piss himself too. They pulled me out and attempted to sedate me. Little did they know I had been waiting for that day my whole life. I attacked them with everything I had. I used everything I had taught myself and beat them down into the ground like worms. I don't know if I killed any, but I didn't care. Once the last one was down I took off as fast as I could.

When I got my first taste of freedom, it wasn't very sweet. The environment was a lot like it is now, sunny and crowded with people. As soon as the saw me burst out onto the street, they started screaming and running away. I didn't understand and at that time I didn't realize I was unlike the population that runs this place. I did what any other scared creature would do, I ran from my problem, and that was the last time I would ever run.

I face it now, my indifference. I figured if I couldn't be accepted into society then I might as well go against it. For the first four years of my newfound freedom, I started off by shoplifting food from grocery stands out on the street. Then I moved up to plundering larger general stores. Then, when I was about 14, a gang invited me to join them. They said they had been watching my progress and liked what they were seeing, mutant or not. They named me Asagai and turned me into the professional desperado I am today. They even gave me a small weapon and something they called "an outfit." A red bandana, elbow and knee pads that they said would protect me during a fight. And protect me they did. One day the leader of the gang pointed me out for leaking information to the cops about a heist we were planning to execute. Little did I know I had been set up by a jealous member who didn't like the fact that a mutant was helping operate a gang. The leader said my punishment was death, so they all turned on me in an instant, guns and everything. Little did they know my power exceeded well beyond their toys. I walked out of there battered and bruised, but I had won, and you can guess where they are now.

I got along for another few years on my own, refusing to trust anyone I came across. Eventually, however, my work became sloppy and the authorities were catching up to me. They even hired other gangs to find and kill me. Some America we live in. One did find me though, and I was unable to take all of them on my own. I think they called themselves the Foot, but I can't remember. It was something dumb like that. I'm 100% sure they meant to kill me that night, but for some reason, they didn't. I lied seconds away from death on the cold, cement floor of an alleyway. I thought for sure I was going to die right there and then, but then another gang found me. Instead of finishing me off like I expected them to, they took me and brought me back up to perfect health. I found refuge, refuge with a gang known as the Purple Dragons. They taught me loftier battle and fighting skills that I had ever known and they also taught me how to be what they called "a superior". They said we were stronger than everyone else, more advanced, and that we criminals were meant to run our own show. They accepted my strange looks and told me I had the talent and all the balls to be the next big thing in New York City. I had sworn never to trust anyone again, but this time, I had made an exception.

Like the first gang, they gave me a new outfit. I told them I wanted to keep the red bandana to help cover my face, so they allowed it. They gave me a very thin, black, flexible uniform with their symbol going up the left leg of it (a few alterations had to be made in order to fit the bulky shell I still carried). They upgraded my weapon to something with a sharp blade. I told them I didn't want to handle guns, so they gave me a pair of Japanese, three spiked blades called Sais. It took me forever to learn how to perfect them, but within a year, I was a master. Once I became experienced and brutal, the Dragons decided I was worthy of a better title then the one my earlier gang had given me. They decided to call me Raphael. I personally hated the name, but eventually, I realized it was the type of name that stuck in people's heads.

I felt unstoppable, and I still do. I feel like wherever I go I have the power to alter the universe and run the City how I see fit. I'm feared by all except those unlucky few who decided to challenge me. That's what happened last night, and it didn't end well on their part. I have to admit, this lifestyle can get lonely but the power and satisfaction of running from the law makes up for it.

I was so into my thoughts that I hadn't even noticed the wide grin that had appeared on my face as I made my way down Times Square and to my next target.

**Reviews appreciated! Thank you….****I love you**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

"Yes, can I help you sir?"

The lady at the front desk seemed to be a bit startled by my appearance when I walked in. Even though I had a trench coat and fedora on to cover most of my forest green skin, you couldn't hide the fact that I was a giant amongst ants.

"Yeah, I think yah can." I told her in a bone chilling tone. "I'm looking for Simmons." I hissed.

The woman just stared at me and bit her bottom lip. "Mr. Simmons is not available." She said quickly.

"Then make him available." I got closer to her face and growled. Once I placed my glove concealed hands on her counter, she took a few steps back and put her own hands_ under_ the counter. I knew what she was touching. All major banks like this one had a secret panic button underneath the front counter just in case a robbery might occur. I suppose she was in that sort of situation at the moment, but this _wasn't_ a robbery.

"Sir, please take a step back." Her voice was shallow and faint. I could tell she was new here from the look in her eyes and the way her arms trembled when I breathed.

"Get me Mr. Simmons and I won't tear this place apart. Ok, dear?" I said slowly so she would understand.

"Just a moment." She turned on her heel and walked quickly into the back room. I knew she would either call the cops or do what she was told. I hoped for her benefit it was the later. A few minutes later she returned with a stalky man in a black business suite. He looked angered to have been interrupted from whatever he was doing but when he saw me…

"Can I help you?" He said after taking a deep breath. It made me sick to my shell to see him pretending not to know why I was here.

"It's Sunday, Mr. Simmons." I grinned.

"What? What is this about, John?" The woman asked him.

"Yeah, what is this about, John?" I repeated with a cocky attitude and a controlling smile.

He hushed the girl and cleared his throat. "Sir, why don't we go…"

"Why don't we go nowhere." I cut him off and leaned myself further over the counter. "Why don't _you _give me what I walked my ass all the way over here for." I managed another smile even though I was starting to grow impatient. We had been through this routine hundreds of times so why is it taking so long for him to fork it over?

"I'm sorry. This bank will not be paying you any longer." He said with a nod. Before I could process his rejection to pay, the whole bank turned into a scene from an action movie. People who I thought were mere civilians were throwing off their coats and revealing the horrors inside them. Cops were suddenly all around with pistols pointed and aimed right for me. It was a trap, and I was stupid enough to have fallen for it. Sadly for them, I was use to these types of situations.

"I'm sorry. I tried to work this out humanly." Mr. Simmons apologized and ran for cover with the woman.

People who I knew weren't cops were dropping their things and running as fast as they could to the exit. I witnessed a mother let go of her son's hand and make a beeline for the door out of fear. This my friends, is called a moment of opportunity.

"Put your hands in the air!" A large built man, with an FBI uniform on, yelled to me from across the room. "The NYPD and FBI have you surrounded. You are in our crosshairs and if you move I will order them to open fire!"

I chuckled malevolently. "If I can't move then how can I put my hands in the air?" I grinned.

"Oh look gentlemen, we got ourselves a smartass." The cop said with a laugh. "Now shut up and do as I said unless you want a thousand bullet holes in you!"

"No sir, I sure wouldn't want that." I said sarcastically and slowly raised my arms in the air. I started to regret not buying a larger trench coat now that it only gave me enough room to reach halfway.

"Higher!" He spat while taking a few steps closer to me.

"I can't."

"You will unless you!..."

"Yeah yeah, want a thousand bullet holes in me." I grinned and raised them higher until the cloth near my lower biceps ripped open and revealed my green skin. "Ah, that's better." I moved my arms in circles. I had almost perfect mobility now, enough mobility to…say…make an escape.

"Stop moving!"

I stopped instantly just as my arms were down next to my thighs. "It's been nice gentlemen." I nodded my head at the lead officer and then pulled my Sais out from the inside of my coat.

"Open fire!" I heard him scream which signaled for hell to be risen in the bank.

I flipped backwards onto the main counter and shot one Sai into the closest guy's pistol. It shattered into a million pieces and shot my Sai right back at me. I gripped it tightly and then started to run as fast as I could across the counter while trying to dodge a thousand bullets at the same time. Running from the law was no easy task, but when they know your one of the most feared criminals in New York City, they step right out of your way as you run by.

Bullets made contact with everything around me. Coffee mugs, papers, and books were traumatized into pieces and sent flying into the air. The cops' aim was bad that I wondered if they were even trying to hit me.

"Hey kid." I made my way over to the boy whose mother had abandoned him. He was probably one of those kids who were greatly fascinated by action and the art of law-breaking since he obviously decided to stay and watch the show. I grabbed him by his polo and pulled him up onto the counter next to me.

"Hostage situation! Hold you fire!" The lead cop shouted. All at once, the thunder stopped and the bank was quiet again. Only this time, the silence was out of horror instead of suspense.

I've worked in the criminal industry long enough to know that hostages were sometimes the only way out of these kinds of situations. I've only ever had to take one once back when I tried to steal a Harley from a car dealership. This one was different though, it was a child. Oh how the humans treasured their younger generation. The lifted them up on pedestals and made them fat just to please them. It's like the children are Gods, and the adults are their slaves.

"Don't do this." A new cop stepped in. He had a red badge on the side of his shoulder that helped me identify who he was. He was the hostage negotiator. The NYPD actually made a good decision in bringing him along today. "You don't want to harm a child. You'll live with that forever."

"You'll live with it forever no matter who yah kill." I growled. Humans are so ignorant. They have no idea what it's like to live like I do. "Don't follow me." I picked the kid up and slung him over my shoulders. I jumped off the counter and headed for the exit. But, before I left, I heard someone back in the bank say:

"Snipers ready."

Man, these guys really meant business didn't they? I almost want to break down laughing too. No one in this world knows how to stop me. No one.

Once I made it out onto the street, I immediately made a turn into the nearest ally. Something whizzed past my head and crashed onto the brick wall next to me and shattered. When I looked, there was a small hole there. New Yorkers have such bad aim let me tell yah.

"Go home, kid." I set him down in the darkness of the ally and started to lift up a nearby manhole cover.

"That was so cool how you dodged all those bullets! You were like BAM ZIP ZOOM POW! It was awesome!" He pumped his fist in the air and laughed. I managed a small smile as I stepped down the ladder.

"Nice to know I have a fan." I shot him a wink and threw him the hat that was on top of my head. "Stay in school and keep outta trouble, kid." I pulled the cover back over my head as I stepped down into the sewer's darkness.

**::**

"I take it the collection didn't go well." Hun was furious when he saw me walk into the retreat. Hun was one of the toughest, badass, steroid overusing monsters you will ever see in your life. That's why I liked him so much. He had long, ugly, blondish brown hair that he braided into a ponytail and positioned behind his back. His fists were probably the size of my whole fricken face and he looked like he had the power to tear down the Chrysler building. He was the leader of the Purple Dragons and also feared by every gang in all of New York. He was Justin Bieber and all of us delinquents were his fan girls.

"What happened, Raphael?!" He barked at me as I stomped through the warehouse. The Purple Dragons had two major hideaways in New York City. The one we were in now which is close to the river and another one in the center of the City, hiding in plain sight.

"Looked like the cops knew where I was goin." I said, ignoring eye contact with him. I didn't do it because I had shame though; I did it because I wanted to show him that I had _some_ dominance left after today.

"They found you?! How did you not know!..."

"They were incognito, Man!" I shouted at him. "That bank always cooperated during collection day so I didn't suspect anything!"

"I've been training you to know; to be able to sense these kinds of things before they happen!"

"Well then why don't yah go collect it yourself instead of me then, Hun!" I got up in his face.

He took a deep breath and then backed off. "Looks like our clients are starting to get a bit…over confidant." Hun chuckled. A few of his other henchmen started to circle around him as he paced the large warehouse. "You did well today, Raphael. We needed to know this sooner or later. We need to know when the city doesn't fear us."

"What are yah ganna do about it? Beat the shit outta em'? Tell em' to "please pay up?"' I mocked while removing the tight coat from my sweating body. I had my uniform off (thank God) so my bare skin was instantly hit by the cool air of the warehouse. I liked how I looked right after a good fight or workout. My skin got shiny from the sweat and my heart pounded at a rapid tempo. I also liked how it made the other Dragons stare and take a few steps back as they watched me.

"You and your smartass are ganna get you killed one of these days, Raphael." Hun warned while smacking one of his hands against the wall behind me. Sometimes I try to wonder who would win at a fight, Hun or me. It was a little fantasy world I tried to live in whenever he managed to piss the hell outta me. For some reason though, I always see myself landing on top. I imagine him doing exactly what the humans did to me when they captured me all those years ago; not take into consideration how truly resilient I am.

"My smartass…or yours?" I asked with a devious grin.

"We leave tonight at dusk. It's time to show these worms who's in charge around here." He turned away from me in disgust. "Dragons, let's load up! We got a bit of business to settle tonight!" Hun yelled to his henchmen. When I tried to go get my uniform and join them, Hun smashed his other hand against the wall behind me so I was boxed in. If it's one thing this walking syringe of steroids should know, it's to never make a very angry, pissed off mutant feel claustrophobic. I growled deeply and looked directly into his eyes. "Not you, hothead." He spat.

"What are you talkin about?!" I clenched my hands into fists and felt the pressure run up my arms.

"You're going to go out and find us some new clients." He chuckled and released me. "I have a list of places you need to hit before the sun rises in the morning. If they refuse to cooperate…well…" he chuckled again. "You know what to do, Raphie." He patted me roughly on the arm and stomped away.

**Reviews are loved by this chick *points to self***


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

_You know what to do, Raphie_. I mocked Hun's last words inside my head. _Get us some new clients, Raphie. Do this and that for us, Raphie. _I knew I was supposed to get along with my group since they practically saved my life, but it was hard for me to ignore the fact that humans altogether really pissed me off. Hun has been treated me differently lately, much differently. He used to send me on the most dangerous, adrenalin pumping missions, and now I'm just his errand boy. He started by making me do all the Sunday collections and then he won't let me go have the thrill of roughing our clients up. Now, he's sending me out to recruit- the most unsatisfying job he could possibly give me.

I know my duty is to obey the gang leader and do as he says, but I'm starting to wonder if maybe the Purple Dragons would do better if_ I_ was in charge instead of Hun. We would get so much more accomplished if it was me instead of him. Our clients would be cowering in their shops in fear. They would never protest like the bank did this morning. To me, however, it's just a fantasy. Everyone knows that the only way to become leader of a gang like the Purple Dragons is to kill the currently standing forerunner. I thought about it at times but I knew I would never be able to do it, not after they saved my life.

"Argh!" I slammed my fist against one of the hideout's wooden posts. If I considered myself such a big, bad criminal, why was I holding back on taking out Hun?

"Time to go Dragons!" Hun's masculine voice echoed throughout the warehouse. After he told everyone to start heading out, he turned to me and nodded. "You got the list?"

"Yah." I snorted, avoiding eye contact.

"Good. Remember, I want all of them on their knees by sun-up." He threw a large chain over his shoulder and spit onto the ground. After looking at me one last time, he wobbled out the door to join the Dragons.

I clenched my fists hard and growled after he closed the large wooden doors behind him. This was the last time I would do any chores for him. He's either ganna put me in a more exciting station or I'm out. That or I beat the hell outta him.

"Raphael?"

"What?" I said without seeing who it was.

"Maybe…maybe I can go with you?" I recognized the unique voice of Angel Bridge.

"Yah know that Hun doesn't let yah go anywhere, Angel." I reminded her once she walked up to me and popped a hip.

"What, yah think I'm not tuff?" Angel balled her hands into fists and waved them in front of her face while she jumped. I couldn't help but laugh at her all of a sudden. Her pink pigtails flopped all over the place when she bounced up and down and made her look way more girly then she really was.

"No, I think you're not man enough." I grinned and shoved past her.

"What?! Not man enough?" She ran up to me and punched my shoulder as hard as she could. "Ow." She shook out her hand and grimaced.

"Oh Lord have mercy, I'm dying from the pain." I grabbed my shoulder and pretended to be in terrifying agony.

"You're a jerk, Raphael!" I hated how she always said my name. Instead of just making it sounds like one smooth word, she had to pronounce every syllable so it sounded retarded. It was just her accent though, and I did the same thing. "Besides, I'm just ganna follow you anyway." She smiled proudly.

"If yah follow me, I'll bend your body ways yah never thought it could." I warned her.

"Look, we can get back before Hun even knows we're gone. He never lets me leave, Raph! I'm tired of being cooped up in here!" I noticed she was actually started to get upset about it.

"Then why did yah join in the first place? You're too young to go out and that's the end of it." I grabbed my uniform from one of the thousands of boxes that were in the hideout.

"I joined because I had nowhere else to go! My grandma is a nutjob and my brother aint ever around!" She threw her hands across her chest and growled.

I ignored her and started to strap my uniform on.

"Please?! If Hun catches me then I swear I'll take the blame for it!" She held one hand up to show her promise.

"I said no! It's too dangerous for you!" I immediately regretted saying what I did from the look on her face. Angel hated to be treated differently just because she wasn't a guy like the other dragons. Being the only girl meant that she wasn't allowed to do very much of anything which is why she got so offended when people called her a girl, even though she was one.

"What did you just say?"

I sighed and finished putting on my uniform.

"Alright, you wanna play that way?" She took off in the other direction to the weapons rack. I watched as she pulled my Sais off the cart and waved them at me.

"Angel, I aint' in the mood for games!"

"Gotta catch me if yah want em back!" She climbed up a ladder and onto the loft of the warehouse. I would never catch her even though I appeared to be in better shape than she was. That girl was wicked fast and it wouldn't take long before I would be out of breath from chasing her. I was seriously considering just leaving without my Sais, but they were my pride and joy and I needed them just in case I ran into complications that my fists couldn't handle.

"Alright yah brat, Yah can go."

"Really? AWESOME!" She jumped down from the loft and ran over to me. "Thanks so much!" She threw her arms around my neck and lifted her legs off the ground. She weighed about as much as a newborn child but had the gripping strength of a teenager.

"Ok, ok let go will yah?"

"Sorry, sorry." She laughed and handed me my weapons. "This is ganna be wicked!" She pumped her fist into the air. "I can't wait to go out and kick some bad guy butt!"

"Uh, Angel, we are the bad guys." I rolled my eyes and rubbed the top of her head.

"Oh yeah…whoops." She laughed and punched my arm away from her. "But technically our new clients are the bad guys, right?! I'm ganna punch them so hard they're ganna…"

"We ain't goin out to kill anyone, Angel. Besides, I'll be doing the negotiating; you just stand by and look pretty." I told her as we walked out of the warehouse and locked it up.

"What if they get nasty though? Then can I…"

"Tell yah what, if we get attacked by little blue aliens from outer space with ray guns and giant war tanks, _then _yah can fight." I smirked.

"Awesome! So uh…what's the probability of that happening?" She asked with widened eyes.

"Oh yah know…one in a billion." I laughed. She made a disgusted face and then punched me in the arm again. "Alright, enough foolin around. We have to be quiet unless yah wanna get locked up for the rest of your life."

"No problem. I'm a stealthy…UMPH." She was too busy doing whacked ninja moves that she slammed right into a tin garbage can, making her fall over onto the ground and become covered in trash. "Stop laughing!"

"I aint' laughin!" I cleared my throat and helped her up off the ground. "Seriously Ange, if yah don't stop makin noise yah can just turn yah little ass around and go on back to the warehouse." I pulled a banana peel out of her hair and threw it across the lot. "Come on. Our first stop is on the lower side."

**::**

The night was still, just how I liked it. There were no stars visible in the sky but you could see the moon peeking through the dense clouds that were passing over head. I had never really been this far down on the lower side. All Purple Dragon's clients were usually large industries up near Times Square. It got me wondering why Hun was interested in lower life, nonprofit stores.

"Yah have any idea why Hun wants these crappy places as clients?" I asked Angel.

"Yeah, Hun said something about "expanding the empire" or something like that." She spit onto the ground then wiped her mouth with her sleeve. What a lady.

"Maybe Hun thinks the other clients will influence the small ones to cooperate. Besides, there _are _more crappy-ass ones then there are decent ones." I said as a matter of factly.

"So he's moving on with his plan then, huh?" Angel asked. "To take total control of the city?"

"He doesn't want total control of the city. He wants total control of the other gangs. He thinks by making the industries pay protection money will keep him on top and the others on the bottom." I said while spitting on the ground myself.

"Why not just wipe the others out?" She asked.

"You would like that wouldn't you?"

"You know it." She made guns with her fingers, pointed them at me and winked.

"Shh, we're here." I made her crouch down low to the roof of the building we were on.

"The deli? WHY THE F…."

"SHH!" I pulled hard on one of her pigtails. "Next time yah talk I'm throwin yah over the edge!"

"Touché." She cocked her head.

I lowered myself close to the ground and got a good look at the building across the street. The first street number and address on Hun's list was in fact the deli. I had to agree with Angel on this one. I couldn't help but be disappointed in Hun's pickings; Just another reason why I should lead the Dragons.

"So how do we do this, oh wise and powerful one?" Angel ridiculed.

"It goes like this, you stay here and I go in." I jumped over the side of the roof without warning.

"Raph!" She called down to me. "Damnit!"

I looked to her and squinted my eyes. "What did I say?"

"Stick my foot up your ass? Yeah, I think I will." She flipped me off and walked away from the edge of the roof.

I rolled my eyes and crossed the street to the deli. I made sure to stay in the shadows but stealth was never really a key skill of mine. I was more of a warrior, not a ninja. I'll leave that to the guys with swords and masks. I had arrived just in time because the deli was just closing up for the night (that's probably one of the reasons it was first on the list). I straightened my posture and walked right into the small building.

"Oh my." A man behind the counter cupped his hands over his mouth and glared at me. The woman mopping the floor shrieked and ran to him for safety. "Can I help you…sir?"

I didn't waste any time chit chatting; I got right down to business. "City's been getting pretty bad lately." I said in a nonchalant tone. "All these gangs fighting for territory and destroying small businesses like this one, it's a ruff area to live in, downtown." I ran my three fingers across the glass counter and grinned. If my green face and hands hadn't scared them already, then this would. I pulled out one of my Sais from my uniform belt, twisted it across my fingers and slammed the point of it down through the glass counter. The jumped back a little and then just stared at the weapon stuck in their glass. I was surprised at their reaction. Maybe I hadn't made myself clear. That, or like Hun had said, people were starting to get cocky.

"All the food, it's yours. Take it." The man said. I chuckled at his statement and retrieved my Sai from its glass prison.

"I don't want your stock, old man. The first Sunday of every month you'll be paying a protection fee." I walked over to one of the walls that were filled with all different kinds of cheeses. Gross. I moved to an area that was empty and visible for them to see from the counter.

"Protection fee? Who do we need protecting from?" He asked while clenching onto the woman for dear life. I grinned and ran the blade of my Sai along the wall. The wood moved out of the way as my weapon danced through it like waves. I carved a symbol large enough to remind them of their new commitment to the Dragons.

"Oh you know, The Raptors, The Mafia, Hells Angels…me." I grinned.

"You? What are you even?" The woman finally said something.

"Trust me lady, yah don't wanna know." I blew the dust off my Sai and returned it to my belt. "First Sunday of every month. Serious consequences will be given if you can't or refuse to pay up."

"But…"

I held my hand up for them to shutup. "First Sunday of every month." And just like that, I was gone quicker than I had arrived. I walked out onto the street and crossed back over to the building Angel was waiting on. I climbed up on the fire escape and watched her as she chucked rocks over the edge.

"Having fun?" I asked.

"The time of my life." She snorted. "How'd it go? Did yah have to kick butt?!"

"Maybe…"

"Can't I go with you on the next one?! Please?" She got on her knees and folded her hands. "How will I ever learn if I don't have any experience?!"

I put my fists on my belt and looked down at her. I had never seen anything more pathetic then a 13 year old girl wanting to go and beat someone up. I sighed and looked up at the sky. The moon had completely disappeared behind the clouds. When I looked back down at her, she was biting her bottom lip and making puppy eyes.

"Ugh." I took out my list and looked at our next stop. Strange, I've never heard of it. "Fine. Only one though!"

"YES! VICTORY!" She slapped one hand over her mouth. "I mean uh…victory!" She whispered.

"You're the reason I hate kids, Angel."

"You know you love me." She batted her eyes and hugged me.

"No, but I do know that I'm about to throw you over the roof though."

"Sorry, sorry. So where's our next stop?" She gave a proud smile.

I looked at the list again. "Some place called _2nd Time Around_."

"The antique shop?!"

"Is that what it is?" I asked.

"Yeah, I totally know the way too. Come on!" She grabbed me by the arm and started to run across the rooftops. You know, she really wasn't that bad. If I had to pick someone to have my back 24/7 it might as well be her. Once she got older of course. Then again, I had promised not to trust anyone…

**Reviews Appreciated! Thanks! I like to know how I'm doing!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

"This way!" Angel jumped across the rooftops with indescribable grace. She didn't have to move very much at all to send herself through the air and landing perfectly on the ground again. She almost made me look bad considering we'd only be running for 15 minutes and already she was several strides ahead of me.

"Slowdown will yah!" I called out to her. "Jesus do yah work out in that warehouse every day?!"

"I do! I work out all the time that way I don't get chubby like you!" She laughed and did a small, sloppy flip in the air. I felt my breath escape my body as she almost landed improperly and broke something. Despite her wild speed, she might need a little bit more work on all the ninja mumbo jumbo.

"Be careful!"

"Sorry. I thought I had that one down!" She called back to me.

"You aint a fricken ninja so why you actin like one?" FINALLY I caught up to her and skid the both of us to a stop. I tried to stay on a serious note. "You almost broke your neck back there, Ange."

"I saw the other guys do it so I wanted to try it too." She dug the tip of her sneaker into the ground and saddened her expression.

"Woah wait, what? The_ other_ guys? What guys?" I put a hand on her shoulder and forced her to look at me. "What guys, Angel?"

"You never see em' cause your out being a dumbass all the time." She pushed me hand away and crossed her arms over her chest. "Hun calls them the Foot. Dumb name I know. Sometimes I see them come around the warehouse at night all flippin and bein awesome. You're always asleep though. Maybe you should stay awake sometime and watch them with me."

"The Foot?" I repeated.

"Yeah, that's what I said."

"I'll have to ask Hun about that one."

"Well worry about it later. Look across the street." Angel lifted up her pale hand and pointed to a small building sitting on a lonely corner. I wasn't too happy with what I saw. If Hun wanted to win a prize for rounding up the shittiest looking places, he certainly got it.

"I'll have to ask Hun about his pickins' too." I jumped over the side of the roof and landed in an alley across from _2nd Time Around_.

"Hey! You said I could go with you this time!" Angel spat from above. Damn, I had forgotten I told her that. If I told her no now she would never let it go and drive me straight to my grave.

"Fine!...brat."

"I heard that!" She jumped down from the building and landed raucously next to me.

"Did those ninjas of yours teach you about stealth too?" I mocked her with a grin.

"Oh yeah because you're the stealth _master_, Raphael. 'Hi, I'm Raphael and I like to make big noise with my big feet.'" She bulked up her body and wobbled in place.

"I'm ganna make big noise with your body once I throw it under a bus!" I got up close to her face and growled. Everything with Hun was making my mood sour enough as it was. I didn't need her acting like a smartass unless she wanted to see the side of me no one ever wanted to. "Stay close to me. Always keep on hand on my left arm so I know where yah are." She obeyed wholeheartedly and smiled with delight. Once I made sure no cars or humans were nearby, we crossed the street quickly and took cover near the shop's back door.

"Oh great." I scowled while pressing my ear against the door. I could hear commotion from somewhere but it sounded like it was farther away- not in the building. The lights were on, but dim, so someone had to be home. "Alright, let's go inside." I put my hand on the doorknob and slowly twisted it. Locked.

"Damnit." I growled. "Angel. I need yah to go in the front door and scope the place out. I think there's a group in there."

"Why can't _you_ do it?! This is my first time!"

"I just have a bad feeling about this one…I need to know there's not a lot of people inside." I trailed off. She hesitated for a minute but then ran out of the ally and to the front entrance. I walked slowly up to the corner and peeked around the edge so I could make sure she was OK. The shop was very poorly lit. I could barely see anything on the inside.

"Hello, I'm sorry sweetie but we're closing up." A soft voice came settled that wasn't Angel's.

"Yeah I'm… I'm just looking for the manager." Angel sounded unsure when she spoke. The woman, who had frizzy red hair and green eyes that I could see through the darkness, hesitated. She popped a hip, making her cargo pants sway to the side.

"I am the manager." This chick was on to Angel. I could feel it. I didn't blame her either. Angel looked like a punk to begin with. Black pants, black shirt, piercings, the whole damn package.

"Oh so…there's no one else in here? Just you?"

I face palmed then ran my hand sharply down to my neck. I had to give this girl interrogating lessons as soon as we get back to the warehouse.

"Umm…well my boyfriend is upstairs in our apartment."

That's where I heard the voices. There's an apartment above the shop. I was pretty sure I heard more than one voice though.

"Your boyfriend? Cool. I had a boyfriend once. Except he died from drug abuse…" Angel looked at the ground and made an awkward smile. The woman's jaw dropped and she called out for someone. She said a name. A few moments later, a punk looking man came walking down the stairs. He smiled at her charmingly and then dropped his gaze to the petite child standing in the doorway. His jaw made awkward twists until it finally dropped into an "O".

"Angel?!" He cried out in surprise.

"Casey?!" She cried out in horror.

Oh Shit.

**::**

"What are yah doin out so late?! Your grandma is worried sick!" The man's long black hair fell over his eyes so that he had to move it out of the way just to see the visitor. He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her small waste.

Alright, now I'm a little angry.

"Let go!" She pulled away. That's my girl. "I'm fine. It's not even 10 o'clock yet!"

Someone was watching. Somewhere, I could feel a presence. I looked around outside but couldn't see anything. I returned my attention back to the scene inside the shop.

"I'm callin' your grandma right now. She's been looking for you everywhere! Where have you been?!" The man walked over behind the shop counter and pulled a white phone off the wall.

"Oh my God you're so annoying!" Angel pulled on her pigtails and grumbled.

"Excuse me young lady but if your…"

"Don't butt in ok, Lady!" Angel yelled at the woman who recoiled back in shock. I was about two nerves away from bursting in that door and handling the situation on my own.

"I'm sorry Casey but how do you know this girl?" She asked.

"Her names Angel Bridge and I promised my neighbor I would watch after her since her parents died. God, I'm the worst babysitter ever! Look at yah! It looks like he rolling stones ate you up and then spit you out!" He gestured to her outfit. Alright, now I'm a little angrier.

"Look at you giving lessons on humanity Mr. Vigilante!" Angel leaned her body over and cocked her head back and forth.

"Yeah well at least I don't look like I'm about to mug somebody!"

"God, I'm leaving!" Angel threw her hands down and stomped one foot.

"Oh no you aint!"

When Angel tried to head for the door, the man grabbed ahold of her arm and pulled her back into the shop. That was it. My last straw had been pulled. See, it doesn't take much to really piss me off.

I walked in through the door calmly with my arms across my chest. Angel immediately took cover behind me while I stared down the two characters before me. I can see now that the woman was unnaturally thin and the man was unnaturally large. It was a good thing it was hard for us to see each other or my green pigment might send them packing.

"Purple Dragons, huh?" Casey moved towards me slowly, occasionally looking down at my leg to Angel. His expression changed drastically from angry to manic in only a few seconds. To imagine all it took was me walking in. He gestured to the Dragon's symbol running up my leg. "I use to fight Purple Dragons. As a matter a fact, I still do, especially when they try to keep me and my friend here, apart." This guy was a party on legs. I could probably have one hell of a time with him if I wanted. But unlike me, I stayed quiet waiting to see what he would do, watching for his weaknesses, and learning how he moved.

"Leave him alone, Casey!" Angel spoke up but then I used my hand to push her back behind me.

"Angel, why the hell are you with the Purple Dragons?! They're no good lying sons of bitches!" Casey spat on me as he said that. I calmly pulled my arm up and ran it across my face to wipe away his pathetic human DNA. Oh how I wanted to just curl my fingers around his neck and choke the life out of him. I probably would to, had Angel not been watching.

"Casey, should I get…" The woman started.

"No, I can handle this. They don't need to see what I'm about to do to this punk." Casey grinned while rolling up his sleeves.

_They_? Who was _they_? Hopefully more people for me to beat the shit out of. Casey reached behind his back and pulled out a long, wooden baseball bat. He tapped it in his hand a few times and took a few steps back. The longer he made a fool of himself the longer I wanted to kill him. It took every muscle in me to hold back the want, the desire to strike him.

"You just ganna stand there and be a coward? Come on!" Casey took one swing with his bat that I dodged with no problem. He ended up smacking a very expensive looking vase into a million pieces. I now had no choice; I had to beat this guy senseless, for my honor's sake.

"Alright, Angel." My sudden speaking took him off guard. "Raphie's ganna show yah how to make the annoying pain in my ass disappear." I pounded my fists together and approached him.

"Oh, so you do talk?"

"Guys…" The woman's voice called out but it sounded more like she was calling for help, not for us to stop. I pulled out my Sais and twisted them through my fingers. The blade in the middle of the three was long enough to shorten the distance between Casey and I. For a quick second, I took my eye off him and pointed to the woman cowering in the corner.

"You're next, sweetheart."

"Oh that's it!" In an instant, Casey was on top of me. He weighed just about much as I did and more. He was strong, but I was stronger. Within a few seconds I had him off me and onto the ground in a headlock. He kicked his legs out as to try and get free but I kept my deathly grip on him.

"CASEY!" The woman shrieked. I held on tighter and tighter, letting all my anger out on this one man.

"Raph stop! STOP!" I saw Angel run over to me and start whaling her fists on my arms. "Let him go! You're killing him!"

I heard her but didn't react. I didn't realize what tight of a grip I had on the man before something/ someone came down the stairs and into the shop. I saw him in slow motion as he ran over to me and landed one huge fist across my face. I flew back farther than expected and smashed through the store window. Blood flooded my taste buds and overwhelmed me. I've never seen my own blood since the day I got mugged in the ally. I felt my body begin to wheeze and I felt my own brain shut off as I tried to process what had just happened.

I crawled onto my belly and got up on all fours with my one hand catching the falling blood. That bastard really got me good. He was about to do it again too. I saw his shadow come behind me and he was on top before I had the chance to react. I was still traumatized from the pool of blood all around me and let his assault happen. He pinned my arms to my sides with his knees and pulled out something from behind his back. I wish I could just see his face but everything's a blur. He said something to me before pressing cold, sharp metal to my neck.

"Raph!" Angel cried. "Raphael!" I could see the blurred movements of two other figures holding her back. Whether it was Casey and that woman or two other people, I didn't know.

"I should skin you right now." The person on top of me sounded furious but calm at the same time. Two of the things put together that I hated the most. "How dare you walk in here and threaten us! What did we do to you?!"

"Get off…"

"Are you listening to me?!" He used his free hand to pound me in the face again. I felt completely under his control. My body wasn't even responding to me, it was just lying there allowing itself to be taken over. "Answer!" He raised his fist again, threating yet another blow.

"Sure thing." I said cockily. Thankfully before he could bring his hand down, I managed to get my feet moving and throw him off. But he landed so gracefully, nothing I had ever seen a human do before. I could see his build in the dark. He was almost my height, muscular and professional looking. I had smelt him too and it was different…it was…me.

"Get out of here!" He pointed at me what I could now see was a sword. Who used swords anymore?

"Come on, Angel!" I called to her.

"She aint goin anywhere, bub!" Casey chimed in. That bastard was really starting to get on my nerves.

"What did you just say?" I challenged his response but when I took a step towards the shop, the guy with the sword took one as well.

"Let me go!" Angel struggled in her captor's arms. "Raph!"

"Leave!" I saw the quick flash of a sword nearly scrape my plastron had I not jumped back. I couldn't believe it…I was outnumbered. There were four in the shop and then this yahoo here was obviously a Navy Seal once upon a time. He grew impatient from my silence and planted his foot on my chest with one powerful movement. I flew back again and onto the building across the street.

"Raph! Wake up! What are you doing?!" Angel screamed and I didn't blame her. I didn't know what was wrong with me. Why wasn't I fighting back?! I got up off the ground slower this time and staggered in different directions. I took one last look and started to back away. Even though I was violent in every way and loved throwing the hits, I knew it was a dumbass idea to pick a fight you couldn't win. This sword guy meant business and I needed to get away and recover before showing him who was boss. Don't forget that Casey bastard too. I wouldn't let them have the last word either; I never would one way or another. That's just who I am and you can bet I'll see them again whether we cross paths or I hunt them down.

**R-E-V-I-E-W and make a girl happy! (Muaw) No, that wasn't a kiss…unless you wanted it to be…**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry this chapter was late. FFN was being loopy :/**

Chapter 5:

Three days have passed. Three days gone by. That's how long it took my wounds to heal so graciously given to me by that Sword Bastard. I had never gotten punched so hard in my life. Not even the Dragons had been able to leave a bruise on me like this guy had.

I still remember his voice. So calm, yet so relentless. He would have killed me if I hadn't left when I did. I just wish I could have seen his face! I want revenge on him more then I want revenge on that gang that beat me up in the ally all those years ago. I want to wrap my fingers around his neck like I did to that Casey character, except this time, I would make sure the job got done.

Even though the bruises on my face had pretty much cleared up, it still felt like I had a baseball stuck inside my head. I felt like shit, but I felt good enough to hunt down the person I was after. The _people_ I was after. I got up off the ground of the sewers and looked over into the dirty, green tinted water. I looked like I had gotten hit by a bus, twice. It didn't matter though; I wasn't trying to impress nobody.

I had two things on my list: find Angel and then find Angel's abductors. I won't go into detail with that second part. I found the ladder that would lead me up to the surface and climbed it. The manhole at the top was positioned in an ally that way I could make a clean escape into the shadows. If it wasn't night, however, I would have to wait another few hours for the shadows to be created. I lifted the cover slowly and peeked out. No light poured into the sewers-a good start. I jumped out as quickly as I could and climbed up the first fire escape I could find. Within minutes, I was looking out over the dark city- only lit by the windows of the skyscrapers on the upper side.

I took deep breath of somewhat fresh air and shut my eyes. The sounds of police sirens echoed in the distance and filled my veins with adrenalin. _2nd Time Around_ wasn't far from here and I knew I would have to go there to get answers. I would imagine Angel was taken back to her grandmother's house but I was too much of an idiot to ever ask her where that was. I regret that now and as soon as I get her back, after I beat her senseless for forcing me to let her come with me, I'll make sure I have all her family's information so I know where to find her sorry ass if something like this every happens again, which it won't.

"Raphael?"

Within a millisecond, my Sais were in my hands and I was turned around with a scowl on my face while ready to fight. "What do yah want?" It was one of Hun's Dragons. I never really bothered to learn any of their names; they were all just the same to me.

"I uh…" He held his hands up in defense and started to back away. "I thought you were…"

"Yah thought I was what?! Dead? Thanks for the search party by the way!" I started to move closer to him until the back of his heels were flat against the side of the roof.

"Hun's ganna be so pissed."

"WHAT?!" It was no surprise to me that Hun wouldn't care if was alive. That's just how he played his game.

"He thought you were dead, man! Please don't kill me like this!" He said while taking a glimpse over the side of the roof.

"Wait…what?" I hadn't even threatened to kill him. Why was he so fidgety? "Hun's ganna be pissed because I _aint_ dead?" I stopped advancing toward him.

"Oh, I thought…" He gulped hard.

"You thought I thought what?!"

"You don't know?"

"Didn't know what?!" I spat, ready to push him off the side of the roof. I had a feeling he might be staling so I tried to end this quickly.

"Hun…" He stuttered.

"Spit it out, shrimpy!" I bluffed a swing at him.

"He told us all to be quiet about it. He said if we told you he would kill us!"

"Well I'm tellin yah this…" I sheathed my Sais and grabbed the collar of his leather jacket. I pulled him up to my eyelevel and dangled his body over the side of the roof. "If yah _don't_ tell me… I'll make sure Hun never gets the chance to kill yah. Yah know why?" I asked him but all he did was shiver and start to tear up. "Because _I'm_ ganna kill yah first."

"Alright man chill out!"

"Tell me what Hun told yah guys!"

"He sent you out here so…" He stopped talking again. I swear to Jesus I'm ganna pound his face into the ground if he stops talking one more time.

"My grip is slippin, Pal!"

"So this creep at_ 2nd Time Around_ would try to kill you!" When he started to get angry I shook him so he would remember who was dangling who over the side of a roof. "At least that's what Hun wanted."

"Why'd he do it?!" I didn't want to believe that Hun would set me up to be killed. Then again, Hun was a Grade A son-of-a-bitch and I expected him to want to kill me off. Maybe he thought I was getting too strong or too street smart for him to handle. Maybe he found out that I had been thinking about trying to take over the Dragons…

"I don't know, Raphael. All I know is that we weren't supposed to say anything to you at all. He had a few of us spy on the store so that we could get you over there while he was there too." The Dragon grabbed onto my hands and tried to get a breath of air.

"Who? Who did he want there?!" I shook him again, this time a little harder.

"I can't say anymore! We thought he got you. I won't say anything to Hun about you bein alive. Please don't kill me!"

"I aint ganna kill yah." I was done wasting my time with this low life.

The Dragon let out a long breath that he had been holding in and smiled with relief.

"But the fall will." I let go and watched him tumble 3 stories to the ground. Sadly, he landed in a dumpster that was left open and had his fall broken.

I debated on whether or not I should go after him but part of me wanted Hun to know I was alive so he could be restless and wonder when I was coming for him. My list of targets just keeps getting longer and longer. However, there was no way I was letting Angel go back to the warehouse. I needed to get to _2nd Time Around_ and find Casey. I need to get to Angel before Hun does. There was a small voice in the back of my head that raised the option of Angel's betrayal. Perhaps she was a part of it too but why would she have struggled so hard to get Sword Bastard to stop what he was doing to me if she knew I was just ganna die anyway? Sword bastard… was he the one who was supposed to kill me? Or was it that Casey character?

I leaped across the rooftops with all these thoughts spiraling in my mind. I wasn't meant to be a heavy thinker, I was meant to be a heavy fighter. All this Hun shit was getting to me in the worst of ways. I wanted to go out and hurt people for no reason just to get everything under control inside me. I stayed like this for almost 10 minutes until finally I couldn't hold it in any longer. I jumped down onto the street and grabbed ahold of a stop sign. I struggled and struggled until finally, it bent and broke in half. I swung it as hard as I could and released it into the store window next to me. The sound of shattering glass relieved my anger and brought my temper down a notch, along with the sound of the burglar alarm. Not in a good way, however. Now instead of being furious, I was anger driven.

"Huh?" I looked into the broken window that I had just created. I couldn't believe it, it was _2nd Time Around_. No one was inside though, not at this time of night. I climbed over the glass and made my way inside. I felt a sharp spike of pain on my thigh and swore under my breath. I pulled a piece of glass out of it and chucked it onto the ground.

I kept my guard up just in case Sword Bastard was anywhere close by. Without looking, I stuck the tip of my Sai into the alarm to shut it off; I had my eyes focused on the dark inside of this shitty looking place.

I stood in the exact place that Angel stood three days ago. I relived the horror of that night. Her being dragged away from me, Sword Bastard wailing on me like a ragdoll. My body wasn't hurt as much as my dignity was. I felt like a coward, a low life, a disgrace for letting him do what he did. That wasn't even the worst part, Angel had seen it. I needed to gain that all back, and there was only one way to do it. I shook my head again. I had to remember my first priority- get Angel somewhere safe. I needed to focus on that, not beating these two assholes into the pavement.

There wasn't much I could do now. The next few hours would be nothing but a waiting game, a long, nerve racking, waiting game.

**:: (Third Person)**

Angel was sitting uncomfortably on a couch with a blindfold wrapped around her eyes. The place she was in smelled like old sewage and rotting garbage. She wanted to leave, she wanted to see Raphael and make sure he was OK. He had gotten beaten hard by that dude with the swords. It looked like Raphie was left in pretty bad shape that night, left to die. That night…how long ago had it been? She guessed it was around 3 days. She had been in this stinky place for almost 3 days with her eyes covered and nothing to do but listen to the sounds of the people around her. She heard Casey speak a lot and a woman he called April. There were three other guys too, but they didn't talk a lot. Casey referred to them with strange names, names she couldn't remember.

"You can't do this!" She yelled out but her stomach growled over the sound of her voice. She had refused to eat or drink anything that they tried to give her ever since she got here. She could feel the effects of being starved weigh heavily on her, too. She didn't feel like herself at all. She found humor out of things she would never really laugh at. She entertained herself by singing, something she hated doing. Not eating wasn't a good choice; mainly because it left the option of escaping closed. She would be too weak to run away especially from the four guys that were around. She could remember feeling the outline of the one that carried her here. He was muscular, very muscular. Not as toned as Raphael was though. Raphael…was he coming for her? Was he even alive? She knew if he was then he would come for her, right? She didn't want to think, her mind was too foggy.

"I'm surprised you can even yell with nothing in your stomach." A voice that wasn't Casey's was close to her. This one's voice was very soft and gentle. She called him Lion since she didn't know his real name. She would imagine seeing his face and him actually being a huge Lion with a soft voice like the one he had. It made her laugh whenever she thought about it. He was also always the one who would try and force her to eat and drink. He would tell her bad things that could happen to her body if she didn't.

"Go away." Her voice sounded different. It sounded weakened and she hated feeling weak.

"Won't you please drink something?"

"I said!-" She tried to yell but the back of her throat was too dry. She gave up fighting him and changed the subject. "Why am I here?" She felt tears start to fill in her eyes; her cheeks were hot and her nose stuffed up.

"We're only keeping you here to keep you safe from the Purple Dragons. They're probably looking for you."

"I want them to look for me. I want to go back. They'll come for me!"

"Angel, don't you know that they're bad people? They steal and murder and go against the law. You don't want to be like that, do you? You've got your whole life ahead of you."

This is one of the things she had to endure during her stay here. Casey, Lion and sometimes April would approach her several times a day and try to change her feelings towards the Dragons. They would tell her that they were bad people, like Lion's doing now. They didn't understand though, the Dragons were her escape, a way to leave her miserable home life and feel free. Raphael always understood…

She heard Lion sigh. "Alright." She listened to the sound of his footsteps grow fainter and fainter until they finally disappeared. He had given up.

Hours passed but she didn't know exactly how long she had been sitting there. She started to feel her body sway from side to side while her eyelids were weighing heavily even though they were closed. She was getting tired, very tired. Angel hadn't been sleeping much ever since Casey took her away from Raphael. She felt unsafe down here with all these strange people and she was afraid to sleep in fear that one of them would come up to her and punch her like that one guy did to poor Raphie. Her battle with sleep was soon ending though, she felt herself loosing and her body fell out of its upright position and lay sideways across the couch. Her back hurt from sitting like that for too long and this new position brought on a wave of fatigue that ultimately forced her to drift off into sleep. Not long into her slumber, she swore she felt a cover or blanket get draped over her freezing body and the sound of Lion's voice wishing her a good night.

**Let me know what you think! I love hearing for you awesome people. (You…yes you…you're awesome. You…right there…with the face….yah, you're awesome. :D)**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: **(Raphael's POV)**

My eyes snapped open when the sound of a police siren flooded my hearing. I almost fell off the tall bookshelf I had been laying on at the sound of it. There was only a small amount of light that came shining in through the broken window so I tucked tighter into my hiding spot.

"I cannot believe this!" A familiar female voice was coming from the outside of the store. "You tell Donatello to get over here right away!...Why? Because these cops won't know anything!... Just please tell him to come as soon as he can?!...Thanks, bye." I heard something snap closed and then saw that red-headed woman walk into the store through the broken window. "I can't believe this. Been gone for three days and_ this_ happens."

"Maybe they were so desperate to get your stuff that they couldn't wait any longer." A strange, surfer accented male also walked into the shop through the large window.

"Yeah, I'm sure _that's_ it. Go home and help Leo ok, Mikey? Don and I can handle this." The woman placed one of her hands on a large built person with a tan trench coat over his body. He had a fedora covering his face and black gloves on his hands. He looked like he was preparing for a blizzard. It was cold outside, but not that cold.

"No can do, sister. Whoever did this might still be lurking around." He walked past her and went further into the store.

"Are you saying I can't handle myself?" She became offended.

Yeah lady, send away you're big, bad body guard and we'll see how well you can handle yourself. Better yet, let him stay and we can have double the fun.

"I won't lie to you April, so yes, I think you can't handle yourself. Who breaks a stop sign IN HALF and sends it smashing through your store window unless they're trying to tell you something? _I_ might, but besides me." He bent down to pick up the broken stop sign but the woman stopped him and said not to mess with the crime scene.

I wanted so bad to jump down from my hiding spot and take the both of them out with no problem. It wouldn't take much either because they wouldn't even see it coming. I couldn't though, I needed to wait and see if I could get answers first. If that didn't work, then I would have to take matters into my own hands, which I didn't mind doing.

"You rang?" Another built, cloaked person walked into the store through the window. Why was everyone wearing trench coats today? "Holy shell what happened here?"

"That's what I was hoping you could tell me." The woman sighed and pulled a broom out from behind her counter and started to sweep up the dust. "I came to open shop this morning and I see a stop sign decided to come in using the wrong entrance!"

"Interesting." This new man's voice was soft and almost reminded me of the guy who pounded me in the face three days ago. It wasn't the same guy though, I would remember him if I heard him speak. "It looks like this stop sign was ripped right in half!"

"So who invited Superman to NYC?" The surfer walked over to the other and picked up the sign.

"See how the end is ragged? If a car hit it then it would bend, not snap. So someone must have pulled it apart." He said while examining the thick metal post that was holding the sign.

"Is anyone even strong enough to do that?" The woman asked, sounding bewildered.

"Well yah, if you're on steroids."

Nice. I'll remember that one while I'm snapping your limbs in half.

"So who done it, Sherlock?" The surfer said.

"I'm not too sure but I have a feeling I know who. I'm not saying this is the case but…"

"But?" The other two asked impatiently.

"I have a feeling this wouldn't have happened had we not taken Angel back to the lair."

So, Angel's alive and being kept in a lair. Who's lair? Where is it? Aren't lairs usually underground?

"You think the Dragons are trying to tell us something?" The woman asked.

"Well just look." The soft spoken guy bent down in the pile of glass and picked up a few pieces of black fiber. "I recognize this fabric. It's specific to the Purple Dragons. It's fire resistant and endothermic."

"Endo-what now?" The surfer asked.

"It keeps the cold out and the heat in."

I, very cautiously, checked all over my body to try and find a spot where my uniform might have ripped. Long and behold, my right thigh had a long gash in it.

"So what should we do? Should we ask Leo first and see what he thinks?" The woman suggested.

"I think it's probably the work of the Dragons but if you want to confront Leo about it then go ahead. Just make sure Angel doesn't know she has people looking for her." He tucked the piece of fabric into his coat pocket and took a few long glances at the broken window. "I could fix this up for you no problem. Maybe put some bullet proof glass in, too."

"Thanks, Don. I owe you one." The lady smiled.

"Alright chicos. Can we go now? I feel like someone's watching us…"

"Sure thing, Mikey. Everyone grab what you can and then we'll leave this place to the police." They all collected items into a few brown boxes and hauled them out of the store. The woman came walking over to the bookshelf and almost looked up on the top rack. If she would have done that, she might have seen me.

"Come on, April." The surfer walked out of the store with a kick in his step. Once all three of them were gone, I moved quickly. I jumped down off the shelf and sprinted out the back door. I used the ally as cover while watching them cross the street to the other side. I couldn't believe what I saw next, they opened a manhole cover and went down into it! One of the men took a few glimpses around to make sure no one saw anything and then jumped down into the ground.

"God Damn." I found the cover closest to me and fell into it. I was careful to land quietly as to not inform them of my presence. I saw them not to far ahead heading away from me and started to follow from a distance. I stayed a few yards back and begun to feel my anger rise over me. Why did these people live underground? Why were two of them wearing trench coats that concealed their entire bodies when it aint even that cold out? My life has been some roller-coaster lately. I just wanted to find Angel and get her someone where safe. What I really needed was to think straight but instead I kept discovering more bizarre things that threw me off track.

"Did you hear that?" I heard the soft voiced person say. I could tell they had stopped because the footprints in the water had ceased.

"Probably just a rat." The girl suggested. Great, she can point out no-brainers.

"Ok…everyone keep your guard up."

They continued walking but much slower this time. I followed them for another 5 minutes until they stopped again. This time, they put down their boxes.

_What the hell are they doing? _I asked myself.

I started to get a little uneasy when the two wearing cloaks pulled out weapons. Not just weapons though, prehistoric weapons. Nun-chucks and a long stick thing I had never seen before. I knew my sais were outdated but this was just ancient. Wait…didn't that guy who attacked me have swords? Were these two and he connected somehow? Were they the ones I saw standing next to Angel that night?! I felt my heart begin to pump harder and faster. My muscles tensed up and I could feel a scream begin to form in the back of my throat.

"We now you're here, Dragons. We knew you guys would follow us!" The surfer stated. "How dumb do you think we are?!"

His cocky attitude and my want to murder these guys from taking Angel, all played a role in what I did next. "Pretty dumb." I couldn't help it, I spoke. I was so angry. I let my voice be heard but stayed in the shadows of the sewers. "Pretty dumb… because it's just me here."

"Ah shit. You're that guy…uh…Donnie." The surfer pushed the other one in front of him. He held his ground but I could see his whole body was shaking. The woman pulled out something from her coat pocket and held it up to her ear.

"Where's Angel?!" I clenched my fists and grinded my teeth together.

"She's in safe hands."

"She aint' in safe hands till she's back with me!" I pulled my sais out from my belt. He immediately positioned his staff into a defensive position.

"All you Dragons are the same! You think you know what's best! She's just a little girl! Leave her alone!" He spun his staff forcefully around himself and then finished by pointing it at me. He wanted to fight, but I didn't want to fight him. I wanted Angel and he was standing between us. Bad move on his part.

"Yah got three seconds to tell me where she is." I growled.

"Or what?!" The surfer threatened but then cowered behind the other again.

"I'll kill you _and_ your annoying girlfriend over there." I pointed my weapons at her. She looked at me and then closed her phone while whispering something in the Staff wielding's ear.

"Um…what would you like to know?" He asked in a strange tone. I couldn't believe it, he was stalling me, wasn't he?

"Three seconds is up!" I kicked my legs off the ground and leaped towards him. I was surprised that he was able to defend himself with that stick of his. He twisted it rapidly around his body again and landed it right in the center of my plastron. I heard something crack and figured it was either his weapon or me.

"What are you made out of, steel?!"He shrieked and I guessed it was his weapon.

"Nope." I slowly stepped into the light and let them see exactly what they were up against. They made strange faces at me and the surfer even squawked in horror.

"It's the hulk!" He cried. "Or Shrek! One or the other!"

Now that I was in the light, I could see the two men better as well as they could see me. Their eyes were covered with different colored bandanas. Surfer had an orange one and the other's was purple. I'm guessing they took into account that I bore one that was red.

"Why is your skin green?" The purple clad one asked. He sounded like he had been frozen, like he just discovered something of great importance.

"Why are you not telling me where Angel is?!" I spat.

"Hey Don, I thought we were the only freaks in this city?" The surfer whispered.

"Freak? Who yah callin a freak?!" I don't know why his remark made me so angry. I knew I was different from the humans already so why did it upset me? I raised my arm back and aimed for their heads. Right when I was about to send my sai flying into them, something pulled on my hand. It bent it in a direction it wasn't supposed to go, making me fall onto the ground at its mercy. He somehow got me flat on my shell so I was staring up into his colorless eyes. I couldn't believe it, his skin was green. All the anger I had was gone and now I was struck dumb like an idiot. I felt my own jaw twist but also witnessed his do the same as well. His bandana was blue, and when he spoke, I knew exactly who he was. Sword Bastard.

"I thought I'd seen the last of you."

"Leo, it's the guy from…" Surfer began to speak but "Leo" held his hand up to stop him.

"Was my message not clear enough?"

"Where's Angel?!" I tried to break free but my arm was still movements away from snapping out of place.

"Why do you need to know? Since when did you Dragon's ever come looking for a missing member?!" He moved his weight towards my arm, snapping it from its socket. I cried out from the pain but bit the side of my cheek to keep myself from yelling any louder.

"Since I left!" I didn't want to explain my situation to this shithead but I needed my arm intact. He let go of me but kept one foot on my plastron. One foot that had only two toes. At this time, I really felt myself examining him. He was well built like I was and he had a sash wrapped around his plastron. Yes, he had a _plastron_. What _was_ this guy?!

"You left?" He sounded confused but still kept his tone firm.

"Get off me! Where's Angel?!" I grabbed my shoulder with my other arm and used my legs to throw him off me. But Casey caught him before he could slam into the wall. I used my free hand to pick up one of my sais and let my numb arm hang down awkwardly. Once again, I was outnumbered.

"Why'd you leave?!" He pulled out two swords from behind him and pointed one at me. "An answer for an answer."

Have I really come so far down the food chain that people are offering me deals? I'm supposed to be feared and now this guy comes along challenging that?! I was running out of time though, if Hun is really trying to kill me then he's probably looking for Angel to either get information from her or get her back with the Dragons. If he does the later though, that would mean she betrayed me.

"You go first and I want detail!" I ordered. My sudden command seemed to have unsettled him because he scowled and withdrew his weapons.

"She's with us. Back at our lair."

I was surprised he had answered. I loved the face Casey made when he told me this, too.

"And where is that?" I demanded to know.

"That's a whole other question."

I growled. He was playing me. "I left because the leader wanted me dead. It aint official though."

"What isn't official?"

I grinned at him and raised a brow line.

"In the sewers." He answered.

"I didn't officially leave the dragons but I'm ganna hunt Hun down and kill him for what he did to me."

"I take it your on our side then? We both hate the Dragons?"

"Not as long as yah assholes have Angel." I was lying of course. Even when I got her back I would properly get my revenge on these bastards.

"Do you know why Hun wanted you dead?"

"Is Angel alive?" I asked with a smirk.

"Yes."

"No."

"Maybe you should find out then. Is it because you're a mutant?"

"What did you just call me?"

"A mutant. Isn't that what you are?" He gave me the one expression that really drove me nuts. It was one of those "I'm better than you" expressions. Man, if it was just him and I down here and my arm weren't dislocated, I would be all over his sorry ass.

"How is what I am any of your fricken business?!"

"Well I don't know; you kind of look like us. Most humans…" He tapped his plastron. "Don't have hard stomachs either." Right when he said that, the purple and orange clad guys took off their hats and trench coats. They fell into the mucky sewer waters and revealed what was inside. They looked just like Sword Bastard except their skin tint was greatly different. I shook my head to try and clear it of the shit they were dumping into it. So what if we were alike? Maybe the people who took me turned them into freaks too. What I'm wondering is why it's more important than me finding Angel.

I clenched my shoulders up to my neck and growled. "Where's Angel?!"

"Donatello, go back to the lair and get Angel. Bring her back here." Sword Bastard told one of the other turtles who listened instantly.

"What? You're just ganna hand her over?!" Casey got in his face and pushed him up against the wall.

"I trust him." Bastard looked right at me and then pushed Casey out of the way forcefully. "I'm Leonardo. The one in the purple bandana was Donatello and that one right there is Michelangelo." He pointed to the little yellow green turtle. "We're brothers. These are our friends Casey and April."

"Yah, I know, and I don't care."

Leo paused for a minute like he was trying to think about something and then said: "I hope you take out Hun for us. He's been on our case a lot lately."

"Hun knows you?" I couldn't help but asking. If Hun knew there were other mutants in the city, why hadn't he told me? Leo smiled as I asked him that question.

"Let's just say you and I have more in common than you think."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

"It didn't happen that long ago actually. My brothers and I happened to be on patrol when we saw him and his Dragons trying to rob a freight train." Leo stood firm in front of me as he told his story. He also had both his hands on his belt next to a few throwing stars, just in case. Probably a good idea on his part since I'm practically minutes away from dishing out on everybody. Casey and April were a few feet away from Leo next to Michelangelo or whatever his name was.

"When did this happen?" I didn't remember being assigned to a freight heist in the recent years. Once again, Hun was keeping secrets with me and it only made me wanna punch him even harder.

"Maybe a year ago."

Why would Hun not assign me to these missions? Especially in the last year him and I had gotten pretty close so why would he hold back on me?

"Whatever." I pretended not to care but Leo obviously saw that I did. All I wanted to do was get out of here with Angel, get her to a safe place and find Hun. I wanted to kill him so bad but I needed answers from him first.

"You said you were ganna hunt down Hun. So you're technically not a Dragon, right?" He was playing with me again. He was asking dumb questions to make me look stupid.

"I'm still technically a Dragon which means you're still my enemy! Even if I wasn't a Dragon yah would be my enemy!" I pointed at him with my good arm and growled.

"Some people just don't change." I saw Michelangelo shake his head but then take a few steps back when he saw I was looking at him.

I had to get out of here. I couldn't stand to being next to these low lifes! I took very subtle glances to my left and right. The right was blocked by Casey and friends but the left was wide open. Once I had Angel, we would high tail it out. And if one of _them_ happened to get hurt in the process…oh well. When I turned back to face Leo he was shaking his head slightly from side to side and his eyes were narrowed. He reached one hand behind his back and pulled out one of his swords with a quick movement. The tip of it settled in the dirty sewer water.

"Nice Sais." He said to me. I looked down in my belt and saw their red handles. Did he wanna fight? A sudden rush of adrenalin and pleasure spilled over my entire body, even to my broken arm. "I take it you have a back ground in Ninjitsu?"

"What the hell is that?" I spat into the water as if I didn't care, which I really didn't.

"Well I figured since you owned Sais…you would know." He picked up the tip of his sword out of the water and examined it closely. He twisted the blade around itself and then looked at me expectantly.

"Well I don't and yah know what? I also don't care." I crossed my arms over my chest, painfully, and gave me an ugly glare. He was just making me angrier by the minute. Maybe I should show him what happens to people who make me angry.

"It's a fighting style. I assumed…"

"Well stop assumin shit you don't understand."

Leo straightened his posture and let a noise of frustration out of the back of his throat. I grinned a little at the gesture.

"Well then help me understand." He threw out another smart remark.

"I could show you." I widened my grin and took my Sais out from my belt, making Casey shift positions and tap his foot. "I grew up alone and then when I finally found someone who wanted me, they taught me a few things. The rest is from the Dragons."

"That makes sense." Casey snorted.

"So you're a street fighter?" Leo asked quickly, ignoring Casey.

I didn't want to answer his question. I didn't want to tell him anything about me. However, I was afraid that if I didn't, he would keep Angel from me or worse, hurt her.

"However the Dragons fight is how I do it. The only difference is that I use blades. They use dull weapons or anything they can get their hands on."

"Are you any good?"

"I guess."

"Is that why Hun wants you dead? Maybe he's afraid of a mutant who can fight." Leo sheathed his sword and crossed his arms over his chest. I was taken aback. This guy thinks he's got me all figured out doesn't he?

"Well if Hun's afraid of me then I suppose you have a reason to be too." I snorted.

"Sure, but the only problem is…" He opened his arms and shifted his weight onto his other leg. "I'm not Hun."

"Maybe yah should follow in his footsteps then."

At the spur of the moment, I heard someone walking through the sewers to my right. About a minute later, Donatello had returned with Angel in his arms. Her eyes were blindfolded and even though I couldn't see her all that well, she looked beat up and run down.

"Angel!" I called out to her but Leo had one of his swords across my plastron. At that point, I lost it. I kicked him in his plastron and grabbed the sword from his hand. When he smashed against the sewer wall, I was about ready to jump on him but Casey intervened. He had Angel standing on the ground and a small pocket knife far from her neck.

"She's what you want, right? Maybe yah shouldn't ruin it by making a dumbass move like the one you're about to do." He said. "Get away from my friend."

I looked down at Leonardo and he wasn't moving. He wasn't trying to sneak attack me either, he was just staring, watching me closely. After a moment of eye contact between us, he shifted his legs underneath me and reclaimed his weapon. I fell back first into the water and before I could get up, there was a sword it the base of my throat.

"Why should we give her back to you?" He asked me but the tone of his voice was playful again.

"Piss off!"

"Raph!" Angel looked at me with angry eyes. The blindfold was off. "Can you _not_ be a dick for _once_?!"

Leo looked to her, then back at me. She was right, even though I didn't want to admit it. I had an issue with picking fights when the odds were against me.

"Nice to see yah too." I snorted.

"I'll let you two go if you promise to stay away from the Dragons." Leo demanded. It made me sick looking at him. Who did he think he was telling _me_ what to do? I opened my mouth to shout something at him but the look on Angel's face made me hold back. She looked exhausted, like she hadn't gotten any sleep. I could see her better now and she looked unusually thin. I couldn't waste time with these guys again. Angel needed somewhere to rest and recover.

"Fine." I agreed but of course I was lying. I had to see Hun, and soon so staying away was ganna be a problem.

I was surprised that Leo let me go. Casey swore under his breath when Leo told him to release Angel, but he did. She ran to me as fast as her unhealthy body would allow her to. I've never hugged her so tightly in my life but even though I was thrilled to see her, I didn't waste time. Before we were even done, I pulled her up into my arms and took off down the left tunnel. I could hear Leo saying something but I couldn't quite make it out. I didn't care though. I only cared about Angel.

"Follow them."

**::**

"Took yah long enough." Angel slapped me on the back of the head once we finally got out of the sewers. I moved her off my shoulders and into a cradle carry to help make her more comfortable. The sun was low in the sky and only left a few more minutes of darkness covering over the city before it would be daytime. Even on this unpopular side of town, people and cars were already flooding the streets.

"Sorry kid, I think I passed out or somethin." I lied.

Angel sighed apologetically. "He hit yah that bad huh?" She teased.

I paused for a brief moment and ignored her joke. I wanted to get on a more serious note if I'm ever ganna figure all this shit out. "Did yah know about them?"

"Who the turtles? The _other_ turtles?"

"Yah." I said quietly.

"No. I'm guessing you didn't know either."

"I wonder if Hun knew…" I got angry at that thought and tightened my grip on Angel.

"Yo hey! I'm fragile!" She grinned.

"Sorry."

Her smile dropped when she saw the look on my face. She looked away for a minute and then started to play with her nails. I walked over behind a dumpster in the ally and sat down with her still in my arms. I leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes. Down in the sewers I felt like I could snap a boat in half, but now I feel like I'm ganna pass out from exhaustion.

"Why you getting at Hun all of a sudden?" She asked after about 5 minutes of silence.

"Because…"

I made it sound like I was ganna answer her further but I didn't. After she slapped me pretty hard on the arm, I slowly started to tell her what happened after I "woke up" three days ago. I told her about the Dragon goon that came across me. I told her that he wasn't expecting to find me because Hun sent me to _2__nd__ Time Around_ to be killed by Casey. At first she told me that he could have been lying, but I told her that I had him in a pretty un-liable situation. I didn't go into detail about what's been going through my head though. I just wasn't that kinda guy.

"So yah think he went back and told Hun you're alive?" She asked.

"I don't know. Either way I don't care. Worst case scenario Hun starts lookin for me. However, that means that I don't have to go lookin for him." My eyelids were refusing to open. I didn't know how much longer I could stay awake.

I heard Angel biting the tips of her nails. Something was on her mind so I asked about it.

"You don't think I would…I would never…."

"I know yah wouldn't betray me. As a matter of fact, it never even crossed my mind." I opened my eyes and smiled at her. A flush of relief went over her face and she laid her head on my plastron.

"I'm tired."

"Me too, kid." I couldn't control it anymore. I slid down a little bit on the wall and wrapped my arms tightly around Angel. She moved her head up to the base of my neck and let out a long breath that was warm on my skin. I leaned my head against the dumpster and joined her in a well-deserved slumber.

**:: (Third Person)**

**12 hours earlier:**

The Dragon ran as fast as he could through the dark roads of the Lower Side. He had nearly survived a drop that should have killed him. He knew he survived for a reason, he had to tell Hun. He was loyal to the Purple Dragons and it was his duty to report any mishaps, even though he promised not to tell.

He ran out of an ally and onto a street where he jumped over the hood of a car and slid on the other side. He had never run so fast in his life and he kept looking back to make sure Raphael wasn't following him. Once he finally made it to the side of the river and into the hideout, he was out of breath and speechless.

He collapsed onto the beaten up, wooden floor in a heap where the other Dragons made a circle around him.

"Hey, it's Zee!" One of them called out. "Where have you been? Master Hun aint happy with you, Zee."

"Move aside!" A large, well-built man pushed through the ground and stood over his collapsed servant. "What's so urgent that you have to come bursting through that door, Zee?!"

"It's Raphael sir." Zee tried hard to speak but his lungs felt like they were collapsing. "He's…he's…"

"He's what?!" Hun bent down and shook the fallen man's shoulders.

"He's alive! He nearly killed me!"

"What? Raphael…alive?" Hun dropped the man and stood up. "I thought for sure that Casey character would have finished him off." He stared into the distance for a few seconds and then looked back down at the lump of human on his floor. "So he nearly killed yah huh?" Hun grinned

"Yes sir."

"But he didn't…so that means you must have told him something so he would spare your life…" Hun crossed his arms over his chest.

"I…" Zee's hands started to sweat and his heart started to beat at a hundred miles a minute. "I told him yah wanted Casey to kill him! I didn't say anything else!"

"But now he knows! Now he's ganna come back here lookin for me!" Hun kicked the Dragon sharply in the side of his gut. He rolled a few times across the floor and started to shriek from the pain. "That mutant is stronger the he looks!" Hun walked up to Zee again and kicked him in the chest.

"We'll be ready for him, Boss." One of the Dragons said while tightening his grip on his gun. "It's one mutant against dozens of Dragons with guns. What harm can he do?"

"That's just it; we trained him with _our_ skills _our _techniques! He knows how to fight us!" Hun kicked Zee again in the ribs until he was silent. "Plus there's no doubt in my mind that Angel is with him. Those two could recruit and army!"

"Why don't we just hunt em' down and take em' out?"

"You don't think _I_ would have thought of that?!" Hun threw a punch at a Dragon who went flying across the room and into the wall.

"Master Hun…" Another Dragon called out over the sound of crashing boxes.

"WHAT?!" He swerved around with his hands ready to snap a neck.

The Dragon pointed to the door where nearly 4 dozen men in black uniforms were standing. He hadn't even heard them come in.

"Hun…" One of them spoke but no one could tell which one it was. "Our Master would like to speak with you."

**Thank you for all your reviews!**


	8. Chapter 8

**In the 2003 series, Hun is loyal to the Shredder but in MY version…he is not. You'll see.**

Chapter 8: **(Raphael's POV)**

_For the first time since I could remember, I had dreams. However, they were more like flashbacks then dreams. And this time, I felt like I was actually there experiencing it all over again. The other turtles were there too: Leonardo, Donatello, and Michelangelo (dumb ass names in my opinion). We were all sitting in a glass pen that was too small to hold our oversized bodies. We were tied down with ropes to keep us from escaping while people flooded inside to look at us. They took out their phones and took pictures; little kids pointed and laughed, some even backed away in fear. It made me so angry and I could feel my hands clenching tightly while my nails dug into my skin. Whether the dream meant something or not, I don't know, but maybe it was trying to show me that me and these new mutants had something in common…_

"Raph!"

A fist pounded against the side of my head and immediately snapped me out of my nightmare. When I opened my eyes, I realized how tightly I was clinging on to Angel. I let her go and she jumped out of my lap and onto the ground.

"Damn-it, Raph!" There were red marks on her skin where my nails and dug into her.

"Angel, I-" I looked at my hands and sighed. If these new dreams brought onto me by the other turtles begin to cause me to harm Angel, I'm ganna harm them…ten times as bad.

I looked up at the sky and sighed with relief. It was night again. We had slept all day.

"It's ok. Were you having a nightmare? You were like…growling and stuff." She scooted back over to me and tried to cheer me up with a smile.

"It was nothing. We need to get yah to your grandmothers."

"What? WHY?! That was so random!" She threw her arms in the air.

"Because, you aint safe with me! The Dragons are probably lookin for me as we speak!" I slowly got up off the ground and leaned against the wall after I became dizzy. I really didn't need her arguing with me right now. I also didn't want to accidently tell her about the dream that caused me to harm her.

"How am I any safer at my grandmothers? She's like a billion years old! She couldn't even chase a sloth down the street!"

"Yah but the Dragons don't know where she lives." I started to walk toward the opening of the ally. I kept my shell flat against the wall and peeked around the corner to make sure it was all clear. Angel was following me but her mouth was still running about why she doesn't deserve to go back with her grandmother and why living with me is best for her. I must've not caught onto the memo that Angel knows all.

"I'll be 14 in a few months. I'm practically an adult!"

"You aint an adult until life turns yah into one." I sigh.

"Well I was brave enough to join the Purple Dragons." She said as a matter of factly.

"No, you were _stupid_ enough to join the Dragons."

"Well then you must be one hell of a retard, Raph!"

"Hey!" I turned around sharply and got up close to her. "I didn't join them; they saved my life…and then tried to kill me." I pointed a finger at her to make sure she got the point I was trying to make. "I'm older now than when I was with them. Now I know that if yah wanna get anything done in this world, yah gotta do it solo."

Angel's face froze and then she slowly crinkled her eye brows and frowned. I saw a tear start to collect in one of her eyes and I was stupid enough to not realize what I had just done until it was too late.

"Oh, Angel, I didn't…"

"Forget it, Raph." She pushed passed me and walked out of the ally with her arms over her chest.

"I didn't mean you! I meant the gang!" I went after her and tried to slow her down. When I put one of my hands on her shoulders she threw a punch at my face (that I barely dodged) and then started to run down the sidewalk. "ANGEL!" I ran as fast as I could but she was faster than me. Her small body and long legs carried her far out of my sight and by the time I made it to the first intersection, she was gone.

"Damnit!" I clenched my head with my hands and punched the air. How could I have been so stupid?! I should've known I would have offended her!

I stood there for a minute, watching the traffic lights change colors. My entire life was falling apart in a matter of days. First Hun tries to assassinate me, then the Casey circus shows up, and now Angel ran away. It was like I was cursed! Or maybe the whole idea of me being a mutant is destined to bring bad luck anyway.

Right when I was about to walk away and go search somewhere else, a piece of paper in the form of an airplane flew down to me and landed at my feet. I looked around to see who might have thrown it but there was nobody. I bent down, picked it up, and unfolded it. I felt my facial expression shift as I read what was written sloppily on the inside.

_She went East_

I looked around again but there was nobody. Whoever threw this must have been on the rooftops and that means someone was watching me. I pulled out my Sais and started to head East down the empty street. If this was a trap, I was ready for it. Too bad for them death would come early this year.

I ran down the street and watched the lamps and trees whiz past me. The cool night air blew on my face and made the metal on my weapons cold to the touch. I wonder how Angel felt as she was running lighting fast through this air; I wonder if it felt like she was flying. Perhaps she wouldn't have been flying if I would have kept my big mouth shut. It serves me right for trying to talk about feelings and all that girly nonsense.

When I came back to the real world, I skidded to a stop and ran into the nearest ally. Right across the street, a few yards down, was Angel. She was standing in front of a house twiddling her thumbs. Once in a while she would walk the other way a bit and then come back. She paced in front of this house for a long time and I wondered what the hell she was doing there.

I examined the house and saw that at the top of the steps, on the side of the door, was a black plaque that had the name "Bridge" written in gold letters.

I sheathed by Sais and crouched low to the ground. This was Angel's grandmother's house. I couldn't believe it…she went home. Now I knew why she was hesitating. Her grandmother hasn't seen her for almost 3 years when she joined the Purple Dragons.

"I'm here for yah, kid." I whispered. She turned her head around as if she heard me and sighed. Slowly, she stepped forward and started to walk up the steps. When she got to the top, she almost walked back down but she stopped herself. She grabbed ahold of her pigtails and moaned loudly in frustration. Then, she quickly turned around and knocked on the door.

She bounced up and down on her tip toes and kept looking at the stairs.

"Don't yah dare. Don't yah dare." I shook my head.

After about two minutes of waiting, she gave up and turned away. When she got about halfway down the steps, I saw the door crack open.

"Yes? Who is it?" An elderly voice spoke softly in the night.

"Gram?" Angel ran back up the steps but stayed away from the door. "Gram, it's me, Angel."

"Angel?" The woman opened the door further and I could see her floral print night gown and pink slippers. "Angel?" Her gray hair that was hanging just above her shoulders was frizzy and shooting out in every direction. "It can't be…" She was in shock.

"Yah, it's me." I could hear Angel starting to choke up. I've never seen her cry before and it almost made me want to start as well_. Almost._

"Oh, Angel." The old woman reached her hand out and cupped it around her granddaughter's cheek. Then, they both fell onto their knees and held each other in their arms. Her grandma was crying more than she was but Angel allowed herself to be in an emotional state. The old woman was weeping so loudly and she constantly repeated _I love you. _She said nothing but this the whole time they were embraced. This lady seemed so nice, what was Angel thinking when she left her?

"Where have you been?" Her words were choked up through her tears and barely made them understandable. "How I've missed you so!"

"I've been dumb, gram. Really dumb. I'm ready to come home." Angel helped her grandmother stand up. "I guess you could say…I came to my senses."

"I'll cook you anything you want, dear. Pancakes and bacon in the morning? Are they still your favorite?"

Angel giggled and hugged her again. "Yes, gram, they are."

"Come inside. I'll get a warm bath ready for you and I'll set up a nice bed for you to rest on. Quickly, before you catch a cold!"

"Hold on, I need a minute." Angel slowly let go of the woman's hands and ran down the steps. She crossed the street without looking and it took me a minute to register that she was heading straight for me.

"Angel…" I began but she plowed right into me and we both fell over onto the pavement.

"You were right, Raph. But this doesn't mean I'm soft!" She punched me on the arm.

"Yah, I know yah aint soft, kid."

"We have to hang out and go kick bad guy butt!" She pumped her fist in the air. "By that I mean Purple Dragon butt."

"Fine, but first yah gotta grow another 3 feet and gain 100 pounds." I rubbed the top of her head.

"Well with the way my grandmother feeds me…" She patted her stomach and licked her lips. This girl was nuts.

"I'll check up on yah, ok? You'll be safe, I promise."

She hugged me again. "Yah know, for a big, bad, turtle mutant…you're pretty lovable."

"Am not!" I pushed her away and grinned.

"Angel?!" Her grandmother called out to her.

She sighed and hugged me again. "I better go."

"Don't leave the house after dark, got it?" I warned her.

"Sure thing."

"Angel." I grabbed her arm and made her look me in the eye.

"I won't, just as long as you visit me!" She punched me again and smiled. "Bye." Her smile dropped and she tightened her lips. I wondered if she felt the same way I did right now. Her and I have bonded so much over this whole ordeal. I felt like she had died and I would never see her again.

I watched as she crossed the street and ran into her grandmother's arms. I saw her turn around and throw a wink in my direction before going into the house where I knew she would _finally_ be safe.

**:: (Third Person)**

Hun's heart had never beaten to the rhythm it was going at this moment. He watched the numbers on top of the elevator as they increased one by one, slowly…too slowly. 5…6…7. He didn't know what would happen when he reached the top. For some reason, he felt like this was the end of the line. 8…9…10. He had gone against his "master's" orders and now he had to look that betrayal in the face and accept his punishment.

The Purple Dragons, his team. The last time he saw them he told them he told them that he was worried Raphael would come hunt him down. He lied; it wasn't Raphael he was worried about, it was the people he was about to come face to face with in 11…12…13.

The palms of his hands were turning into oceans. The sweat began to drip down from his knuckles and land on the floor beneath him. He could hear the drops falling onto the floor in rhythm with his heart. 14…15…16. Only four more floors to go. What would _he _do to him once he found out what he had done? Hun hated_ him_ for so many reasons but feared him more than anything. All this man had to do was snap his fingers and the Purple Dragons would be nothing but a distant cloud of smoke that faded into the cold, spring air. 17…18…19. Hun started to work out a way to escape but then he remembered that he was surrounded by warriors, and handcuffed. 20.

"How nice of you to drop in, Hun."

That voice. The voice that even monsters feared, it invaded the whole room like a plague.

When the elevator doors finished opening, the huge, red emporium made the inside of his stomach churn. Down the long carpet and at the end was the man who sentenced him here. He was accompanied by two, huge pits of fire on either side of him that made him look appalling even from this far away.

"Step forward."

He did. Slowly, he took small stride towards the man in front of him and that's when he noticed the dozens of ninja against the walls. He knew why they were here; they were going to witness something special tonight.

"I understand you decided to play God, Hun." The man sitting in the large, throne like chair had a deep tone of voice that could make mountains rumble and step out of his way. "Too bad you weren't aware of the consequences it had."

"I'm not afraid of you, Saki." Hun lied as he approached the end of the carpet.

"Really? Is that so? Perhaps I haven't made myself clear then."

A sudden spike of pain started at the bottom of his spine and jolted up into his neck. It burnt his back with torment like flames making him fall onto his knees. Even though he felt paralyzed, a set of hands planted themselves on his wide set shoulders and held him in place.

"Intelligence tells me that you tried to destroy the subject before we could get ahold of him." Saki stood up from his chair and walked down the few steps it took to get to Hun. "Now we have to compromise our entire strategy!" He raised one hand and swiped it across Hun's face. It left a bright red mark that stood out from his pale skin.

"I should've known you and your pathetic excuse of a gang would go against me. You obviously don't know who your Master is." Saki got up close to his face.

"You're no Master of mine! You may think you own the Purple Dragons but you don't!"

Saki chuckled deeply and opened the length of his arms. "Look around you fool! The world is my throne and I am its Master! So when I say I want something that you have, I get it."

"You really think I was ganna just hand him over and let you use him against us?!"

"I'm glad at least a small part of your brain works, Hun. You're right, once Raphael is under my control, I will use him to wipe out all my enemies within an exceptional period of time. Sometimes an entire army of Foot Ninja isn't enough." He grinned and straightened his back while gesturing to his army. "I've waited nearly 8 years to have him. I knew when I first saw him with that other gang he would be something great."

"Why didn't yah just take him for yourself in the first place?!" Hun spat. "You could have had every one of us wiped out by now!"

"At the time, I was dealing with foreign complications. I didn't have time to raise an immature child. But then I thought, why not let some fool, like you, raise and train him for me so I didn't have to." Saki started to walk around Hun. "Of course I'll show him a few appropriate pointers, but it was you who which I owe the thank you."

"What?! YOU USED ME!"

"So smart, Hun. I can never get anything past you. However, not giving him to me when I asked wasn't such a smart move. Trying to kill him was also a very bovine call. So you see, Hun, I am quite irritated by you." Saki growled and grabbed the back of Hun's ponytail. He grimaced and tried to keep from screaming but eventually he let out yelps after he felt like his hair was about to be ripped out.

"However, I do have one question." Saki began. "Why not just kill him yourself? Maybe I should've let someone else raise the mutant instead of you. You're obviously weaker than that huge, fake body portrays you to be."

When Hun stayed quiet for too long of a time, Saki pulled back harder on his ponytail.

"I wasn't ganna let you use him against us, but I couldn't get the guts to do it! So I had one of our enemies try" Hun managed to let slip by his clenched teeth.

"Well, through all your mistakes, you have given me _some_ useful information. If that "Casey" character couldn't take Raphael down, who can? You've obviously done well with training him."

"Rot in Hell, Saki."

"So I will, just not yet. You on the other hand…" Saki looked around to his warriors and smiled. He took a sword from one of his Ninja's and looked at himself through the shining metal plating.

"What? NO!"

"Let it be known what happens to people who think they can challenge me! The final step for my total control of this City is nearly at hand! I want four sanctions out and looking for the mutant after we're done here." Saki said.

"You can't do this!" Hun tried to break free from his bindings but failed after the fire going through his back became increasingly painful.

"Don't take it to heart you fool. With you gone that gives me one less enemy to worry about; one less bump in the road." He raised his arms in the air and stared straight into Hun's pale green eyes. Inside Saki's head, it is known that he felt no remorse as he brought the sword down and made Hun pay the ultimate price.

As the body fell onto the floor, Saki Raised his head high in the air and took a deep breath. He felt like the only barrier stopping him had just been broken and now the whole world was watching, waiting.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: **(Raph's POV)**

"Show yah self!" I was up on the rooftops where I could see clearly again. The whole City was in my line of sight as I spun in small circles with my Sais at hand. Whoever sent those paper airplanes down at me during Angel's emotional breakdown was still here, I could feel it.

With Angel gone and a new wave of stress and anger flushing over me, I was about to stab whoever decided to step up to me, even if it was Angel herself. So many things were going through my mind and the idea of someone following me was driving my body to want to do horrific things.

"Come on!" I yelled into the darkness but no one replied. However, once in a while I noticed lights in a window would flash on from the noise I was making. Good, at least I know people can hear me. So why aint my stalker responding?

"Yah can't hide forever. Why did yah help me?!"

"Because I'm an idiot."

"Damn right, jackass." Now I was angry. I recognized that careless tone of voice and the cockiness settling into it.

"That's what I get for helping you?"

"Come out here and I'll show yah what yah get for helpin me." I spun my Sais around my fingers and growled.

"Fine. Little bitch wants to play."

I didn't see it coming. A pair of feet landed flat against my shell and threw me onto the ground. I was up quickly though and caught his arm before he could backhand me. I used my good arm to bash him in the gut until his legs went limp and the only thing holding him up was my grip on him. I couldn't hold on to him much longer though because my arm was still out of socket from my latest encounter with Leonardo.

"I give it a 6 outta 10." He said and somehow managed to release his arm from me and take a huge jump backwards.

"What's with the stupid ass getup?" I asked while we circled each other. He was wearing a white hockey mask or something with a golf back strapped to his back. "Did that lady dress yah or something?"

"Her name is _April _yah dipstick. Don't you have any memory at all? Oh wait…" He stopped moving and opened his arms out to his sides. "Yah obviously don't because you're picking a fight with someone you lost to the _last time_ we met."

"You aint the one I lost to, pal!" I pointed the tip of my Sai at him and narrowed my eyes.

"Oh you're right, _Leo_ beat you didn't he?"

"It don't matter. I have bigger things to worry about then kicking your sorry backside." I sheathed my Sais and started to walk away from him. Even though I wanted so bad to pin him flat against the ground and pound on his face, I needed to figure everything out before I go insane, not that I'm not already.

I needed to know _everything_ about Leo and his mutant brothers, why Hun wanted me dead, and why Casey Jones was coming for me at full speed.

I used my good arm to catch him by his stomach and flip him around over the side of the roof. He made a screeching sound as he went over and I wanted for the "plop" from him falling. I waited…and waited…but nothing.

"What did that low-life sprout wings or somthin?" I walked over to the edge and peeked over.

"Surprise!" He swung his golf back up to me and jumped back onto the rooftop. "Thanks." He took the bag back and swung his leg around. It landed right between my shell and plastron (one of the most sensitive places on my whole damn body), making me fall over in a fetal position on the ground. Even though my uniform protected most of my body, that was one spot it failed to keep safe from the heel of a shoe.

"Awww little turtle ganna cry?" Casey put one foot on me and pumped his fists in the air. "Thank you! You've been a great crowd!"

"Ok." I grabbed ahold of his heel and pulled forward. He landed flat on his back and started to moan the minute he hit the cement. In a second, I had my Sais out and pressed up against his throat. While he got his breath back to him, I straddled awkwardly over him and kept his arms down with my knees.

"Let's play 20 questions." I began with a grin.

"I love games." He managed to say with the little bit of air that was in his lungs.

"However, for every wrong answer, I decapitate one part of your body. Sound good?"

"Wait, I have a question."

I cocked my head to the side. This guy's IQ must be off the charts…in a _southward_ direction.

"Are you a mutant…or just really ugly?"

"See, now you've pissed me off. We'll start with your dick then." I jammed the blunt end of my Sai into his crotch until he begged for me to stop. "Would yah like to crack another smart ass joke?"

"No." He said in a high pitched tone.

"Good. Let's begin. Question one, what do yah know about the Purple Dragons?" I didn't tell him that they had chosen _him_ to kill me. However, since they did, Casey probably was a person of interest to the Dragons.

"Oh that's easy, we play water polo together."

I jabbed him again quickly so his body twitched in an awkward direction.

"OK! JESUS GOD! I guess you could say we're enemies. Whenever you guys decide to be losers and rob the City, I try to step in once and awhile and rain on your parade."

"Don't associate me with them. What else do yah know? Do yah know any inside information? Like why Hun wanted me dead?"

"Why you askin such dumb questions? How would I know that?!"

I hesitated for a moment and decided that the best way to get answers was to be crystal clear, especially with a guy like this one. "Because Hun picked you to kill me."

"Really?" He batted his eyelashes. "Don't I feel so special."

"You aint ganna be able to feel anything in a minute if you keep wise crackin." I threatened him and he stopped.

"I'm tellin yah, I don't know. Can we fight now?"

"You die when I say you die. Question 2: Those other turtles back there, how did they get the way they are?"

"Maybe you should ask them yourself yah lazy mutant butt."

I raised the butt of my Sai and bluffed another blow.

"CHILL! It was a joke!"

"Then answer!" I got close to his face and snarled.

"A magical unicorn brought them here."

"You must really wanna be just a torso."

"Look, it's one thing for you to question me about _my_ past, but then you bring my friends into it, I aint sayin a word. Then again, you Dragons don't know nothin about that, do you?" He flexed his muscles to try and break free.

"That brings us to the last question before yah die. Why did yah help me?"

Casey stopped struggling and sighed. For the first time since I got him pinned, he looked away from my eyes.

"I felt bad."

"What?"

"I have feelings ok! I'm emotional!" He yelled. "I wanted Angel to get home safely so I helped yah out. Don't think its ganna happen again though!"

"Why not just help her yourself?! You're the one who took her away from me in the first place!" I jabbed the tip of my Sai close to his face.

"Leo sees something in yah. I on the other hand see nothing but crap." He looked up and down my body. "He's just as interested in you as you are in him."

"I aint interested!" My blood was starting to boil and I could feel my grip on my Sais tightening.

"Do you smell that?" he sniffed the air.

"Smell what?!"

"Smells like bull..." He grinned after I held my hand up to stop him from talking. "Any mutant turtle who meets three other mutant turtles is ganna be interested in why the hell they look alike."

I didn't respond to his comment. I just sat there and listened.

"Even APRIL think there's something fishy goin on between you guys. Yah do look like them besides being a turtle and all."

"Shutup!" I screamed. I didn't need to be thinking about this right now! The fact that Leo and friends could be related to me didn't sit right in my gut. I needed to be focused on Hun and the Purple Dragons, not this!

"Yah can't run from destiny."

"Watch me." I got up off Casey and stood over him. As much as I wanted to kill him right then and there, I couldn't. Once I finished off the Dragons, Casey would probably be an important piece in helping me figure all this mutant crap out. But for now, he's useless. "You really think…" BAM!

Me and Casey's heads snapped to the side when a huge crash emerged from down below. I looked him in the eyes and then the both of us ran over to the side of the roof.

"Well slap my ass!" Casey said while looking at the scene down on the street. "Purple Dragons… ET wanna phone home?"

"Shut the Hell up and get down." I purposely smacked his head extremely hard to get him to crouch low to the ground."

"What are they doin?" He asked in a whisper.

"Looks like they're robbin that store." Just the sight of the Dragons made me want to purge over the side of the roof.

There were about 3 dozen of them all in street jackets and weapons in hand. About 7 of them stood guard while the rest started to pull merchandise from the electronic store's shelves.

"Yah ganna join them?" Casey turned to me and asked. "You feel the criminal inside you coming out?"

"I told yah, I aint with them anymore." I growled. Not only is his IQ low, he remembers absolutely nothing anyone tells him.

"So you admit to being a criminal? You know I pummel criminals." He pounded his fists together.

"I more of a criminal then you are a vigilante."

"Touché turtle. So what are yah ganna do?"

"Get answers."

"No offense PAL but they aint just ganna flat out tell you everything yah wanna know." Casey was really good at stating the obvious.

"I aint expectin them to." I waved my Sais in front of him and grinned. I put one hand on the edge of the roof and swung my legs over the side and jumped down.

"Now you're speakin my language!"

I heard Casey drop down on the ground beside me. "Go home, worthless." I told him.

"Hell no! I wouldn't miss a chance to beat up some Dragons if my life depended on it!" He reached into the golf bag behind his back and pulled out a baseball bat.

"Fine, but this doesn't change anything between us!" I warned him.

"I was hoping it wouldn't." He shot me a wink. "I also wouldn't miss a chance to beat _you_ up, freak."

"Fascinatin. Now stay here and wait for my signal." I used one hand to keep him back. "I need to try and talk first. If things turn bad, keep one conscious or at least alive."

"I'll try but it might be hard." He raised his shoulders apologetically.

For a minute I felt connected to Casey in some weird, messed up way. It looked like him and I had a lot more in common than I thought. I shook the thoughts out of my head and proceeded out onto the street. I didn't say a word, I waited until my presence was discovered (which didn't take long).

When one guard noticed me walking toward them, he yelled something out to the others, making them all stop what they were doing and stare. They all looked like they were seeing a ghost (which they were in a sense).

"Hi." I smiled and waved. "Which one of you wants to get spanked first?" I grinned.

The Dragons looked to each other for answers until one of them called for someone named Zeeke. After a brief moment, a tall, well built, normal looking man walked to the front of the group. He had on casual clothing despite the black thing behind his back holding a pair of swords.

"Who's this cracker?" I asked no one in particular.

"Boss, that's the guy we told yah to watch out for." One Dragon whispered to him. The movement was very subtle but I thought I saw him reach into his back pocket for something.

"Ah, I see." Despite the warnings, Zeeke walked towards me. "Hello friend."

"Who the Hell are you? Where's Hun?" I growled.

"Oh, hasn't anyone told you? Hun's body was dropped off at the warehouse a few hours ago." He said with a smile. "I'm in charge of this group now."

"Under whose authority?!" I demanded to know.

"Mine of course." I could tell he was lying. Something about the way he cocked his head at me wasn't believable.

"So…Hun's past finally caught up with him, huh?" I grinned, playing along.

He chuckled with a smile and took a deep breath in. "You don't believe me, do you? I can tell by the way you breath."

Alright…this situation certainly became interesting. Now this guy can read my mind by the way I inhale and exhale oxygen.

"I wanna see the body." I said.

"Will this do?" Zeeke pulled something out from behind his back and threw it at me. Once I realized what it was, I threw it back at him. It was Hun's blond ponytail and part of his scalp attached to it.

With my heart racing at 300 miles a minute, I felt my hands begin to ball into fists and the palms of them start to moisten rapidly. Someone beat me to Hun and now I don't have the answers from him that I needed.

"Hey, where did yah get that?" One of the Dragons asked Zeeke. Looks like there was more to their new leader then met the eye.

"Raphael…you're coming with me." He said.

"I aint goin nowhere." I raised my Sais to my face and crouched low, ready to fight.

Zeeke chuckled again. "I'm sorry; I don't think you understand. You don't have a choice."

Suddenly, the rooftops were filled with black figures with red glowing eyes. The street we were on was unexpectedly crowded with what looked like ninjas.

"Ah nuts!" Casey came up behind me. "This part of the plan?" He asked while rubbing his backside. "Piece of crap jabbed me right in the moneymaker."

"Boss, what's goin on? Those are the Foot!" A Dragon sounded horrified while cocking his gun.

"Indeed they are. You and your men are dismissed."

"What? We gotta take em out!"

"You've been warned." Zeeke made a small motion with his hand and the ninjas on the street started to execute the Dragons one by one. Moving like shadows, they used swords with sharpened edges that only took one small swing to cut open human flesh. The gun power of the Dragons was overwhelmed by the shear army of them so they retreated, leaving almost a dozen of them dead within minutes.

"If I had to spend one more second with those miscreants I was going to put a gun down my throat and pull the trigger." Zeeke sighed and brushed a bit of his blond hair behind his ear.

"I'm more than happy to make that possible." Casey chimed in. "Dragons! Can you come back for just a sec?!" He yelled but then shut up once I jabbed him in the side with my elbow.

"Alright, so yah killed Hun. Nice job." I revived our previous conversation.

"I hope you can understand why we did it."

"We?"

"The Foot." Zeeke answered with another smile.

Oh he's just a charmer aint he?

"When we told Hun to bring you to our headquarters…he refused." Zeeke acted like he had no idea why Hun did it. "So he tried to get you killed so we couldn't have you. That rebellion is what sealed his fate. I suggest you don't do the same thing."

I couldn't believe it. If what this bastard was saying was true, everything I thought about Hun, every hateful word I spoke about him was wrong. Hun wasn't trying to eliminate me as competition; he was protecting me from this guy and his party of dancing ninjas.

"I'm sorry, you look confused. All will be explained in due time, but for now, you might want to sheath your weapons, unless of course, you want to do this the hard way." Zeeke gestured to the bodies behind him.

Casey and I looked at each other and shook our heads. I couldn't believe this was happening. We threw our weapons on the ground and surrendered.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

"We can make all this much easier if you just cooperate and come quietly." Zeeke started to slowly walk towards Casey and I with one hand out in front of him. "Just relax."

I could tell Zeeke noticed that my fists were clenched really tight into balls by the way he held that hand out to keep the distance between us. If I didn't know any better I would think he was afraid of me, even with his army of 4 dozen ninjas.

"I don't know about you man, but I aint goin down without a fight." Casey whispered to me.

He was right but I knew we would end up losing anyway. We were outnumbered 20 to 1 and on top of it my arm felt like it was about to fall off.

"Now would be a good time for Leo and the others to drop in." Casey said.

"I don't need them. If they were here I would kick their asses just like I'm about to do to everyone else." I growled.

"Let's not make this harder than it has to be." Zeeke signaled his ninjas and made the ones on the ground begin to close the space between us.

"Now what, genius? This was your idea in the first place." Casey grumbled to himself and began to spin around while keeping an eye on the people closing in.

"No one said you had to come!" I brought my fists up to my chest and prepared to fight.

Zeeke made a saddened expression and shook his head. "I really didn't want to have to do this." He looked to his ninjas. "Keep Raphael alive. I don't care what you do with the other one."

Almost instantly, they were on us like ants. It seemed like they came from all directions like a swarm of flies after a rotting carcass. One jumped down from the roof and was greeted by my elbow in his gut. He rolled over across the pavement and knocked a few down on his way. Three down, a million to go.

I saw Casey struggling to fight with only his fists. Once he would get one off his back, another would jump under his feet and pull him down onto the ground. I didn't have a lot of time to watch though because I got a sudden burst of pain in my broken arm. One of the ninja freaks must have noticed it was broken and pulled it behind my back. He then jumped up onto my shell and wrapped his legs around my neck. I managed to stay standing while trying to throw him off.

"Get off me you!…" I quickly bent forward, grabbed his shoulders and threw him off. Not till after I did that did I notice I had thrown him right onto Casey. He was struggling increasingly as the battle went on. I kept a close eye on him to make sure he didn't turn against me and turn out to be on the ninja's side. He never did though. All I saw was him get pulled to the ground and one of the ninjas jump on top of him with a knife in his hand.

"What's that retard doin?!" I said to myself while kicking a guy in the chest and sending him flying over to the other side of the street.

The ninja raised the knife up into the air while others held Casey down. Even though I didn't give a crap about him, I didn't need him dead. I needed him alive if I ever wanted to figure out my past.

"Move over!" I threw myself onto the pile and kicked the ninja's off him. I grabbed the crook of his shirt and pulled him up. "Go, get out of here! It's me they want!" I elbowed one in the face.

"I aint letting these guys get the best of me!" Now that Casey was back on his feet, he was doing a little better and managed to get one on the ground with his knee.

"I aint askin yah!"

"What do you care?! I thought you hated us?!" He continued arguing. I was getting so frustrated with him that I could feel my punches becoming more powerful. I even watched one of the ninja's masks fly off his head as I clocked him under the nose.

"This aint your fight! Now leave before I kick your ass too!" He ducked as I swung my fist over Casey's head and hit one of the attacking men.

"It is now!" Casey jumped over my shell and landed on top of a guy who went crashing to the ground and lost his breath. For a moment he had a minute of glory but then someone behind him clamped their fists together and brought them down on his back with excessive force. I saw Casey's eyes roll into the back of his head and he fell onto his knees before landed face first onto the ground.

"Damnit!" Before I could react, I felt a small prick in the side of my arm. I slowly turned around in circles and saw Zeeke standing motionless with a needle in his hands.

"I didn't want to have to do that, Raphael." He looked sorry yet triumphant at the same time.

I growled at him violently and raised one of my fists in the air with all the intentions of striking him. But, as I went to bring it down, I suddenly lost control of my arm and it flopped down to my side just like the broken one. My vision began to blur and I could no longer stand straight without wobbling to the side. My legs suddenly gave in and forced my heavy body to go limp and become one with the ground.

**:: (Third Person)**

When he woke up, Casey's head was throbbing harder than the beat to his racing heart. He knew for sure he was dead and pretty sure the turtle guy was too. Besides, turtle dude wouldn't have been able to survive if it weren't for him. He didn't want to move his body was so sore, but he had to, so he started off by moving his fingers. When he crunched them together, they pulled in a sticky, warm substance that clogged the inside of his nose.

Blood. He's gotten in enough fights to know that smell anywhere. What he didn't know was whose it was.

He continued by arching his elbows into 90 degree angles until he could move them up and down like he was making a snow angel. Next was his neck. He twisted it carefully from side to side, smearing the warm blood on his cheeks. It filled his nose and mouth, making him jolt upright and vomit on the ground.

On his hands and knees, he cleared his stomach contents, which wasn't very much at all. Once he was done, he forced one foot to become flat on the ground so he could pull himself up. Using the wall as leverage, he inched down the alley he was in and headed for the opening.

The sun was beginning to peak over the horizon and already the most abandoned place in the City was nearly full of people. He didn't have to go very far for someone to notice him.

"Oh my gosh!" A woman holding a child's hand ran up to him and pulled out her cell phone. "Let me get you an ambulance!"

"No, please." Casey struggled to speak. His throat was dry and scratchy like a desert having a sandstorm. "Do you have anything I can drink?"

The woman slowly put her phone back in her pocket and pulled a bottle of ice tea from her purse. As Casey took the bottled and chugged the whole thing down, the small child looked at him like he was the most spectacular thing in the world.

"Thank you, mam." Casey handed her back the bottle that had enough liquid left to fill the surface area of the bottom.

"You're welcome but you really should call the police. You look awful!"

"No, I'm ok. My friend is in danger." Friend? Did he just call that turtle his friend? Zeeke called him "Raphael." Was that his name or just a code name?

"Just let me call the police." The woman begged.

"No, but you can help me another way. See this manhole cover?" Casey tapped the large silver plate on the ground with his toe. "Can yah help me pull it off so I can get down?"

"You want to go in the sewer?! You're in no condition to…"

"Please! I have friends down there who can help me. I just need to get the cover off." Casey slowly crouched down on the ground and began trying to pull it open. The child also dropped on his knees and started to lift with all his might. The woman eventually gave in and tried her best to help. After about a minute, the heavy cover slowly lifted open and let out a wave of cool air from the sewer.

"Thank you so much. I owe yah guys." Casey dropped his legs into the hole and grabbed ahold of the ladder. "See yah." He carefully began to descend down the ladder and into the darkness. When he reached the bottom, he asked the mother and child to pull the cover back over. When they did, there was nothing left now but the pitch darkness in front of him and the sound of empty space as the cars rumbled overhead.

His progress was slow but after about a half an hour he finally walked the distance that usually took him only 10 minutes to walk. He punched in the code on Donatello's locking device and wobbled inside once the brick wall separated into two.

"Hey look it's…" Michelangelo seemed ecstatic to see Casey until he noticed the condition he was in. "Forest Gump?"

"Casey!" Leo immediately ran to his side and let the injured man collapse in his arms. "What happened? Who did this to you?!"

"I bet it was that Purple Dragon, good for nothing, pathetic excuse of a mutant!" Mike growled.

"No, he helped me."

"HUH?" All three turtles said at the same time.

"When you told me to follow him, Leo, he attacked me. But then we noticed the Purple dragons were up to no good and went to stop them. Turned out it was temporarily run by a member of the Foot clan." Casey coughed into his hand and recoiled once he saw blood flooding in it. "There were so many of them. He saved my life but I don't know where he is now. The one guy said they've been lookin for him or something. I think they took him."

"Well good riddance." Donatello leaned on his bo-staff.

"Aint' you listenin? He saved MY life!"

"It was probably unintentional. Remember that guy tried to KILL US." Mike shrieked.

"We'll worry about this later. Don, get a wet cloth. Mikey, go grab some pillows and blankets from the spare bedroom." Leo ordered his brothers while picking up his friend and carrying him over to the living room couch.

"What is going on in here?" A voice spoke up.

"Casey was attacked." Leo responded to it.

"Let me take a look at him." Splinter, the sensei and father of the turtles, was a mutated rat with more experience in Ninjitsu then one could imagine. Once Donatello brought the wet cloth and a bowl of water, Splinter began to wipe away the dried blood. "He needs stiches. Donatello, a needle with thread and a candle please."

"Yes Sensei." Don ran off quickly. When he came back with the supplies, Splinter wasted no time trying to repair Casey's wounds. He burnt the needle over the lit candle and got to work. While doing so, Michelangelo brought 3 pillows down from upstairs and a large blanket.

"I couldn't find any spare blankets so I just pulled the comforter off my bed." He sighed like it was a huge loss. "Just wash it when you're done." He put the stuff on the floor.

While Splinter carefully threaded the gash in Casey's head together, Donatello began to examine the rest of him.

"You have a few broken bones, nothing a splint can't handle. Most of this blood here isn't yours since I don't see any other open wounds." He carefully touched the skin so he could figure out how to size the splint.

"That turtles?" Mike pondered.

"I think his name is Raphael." Casey stated while cringing from the pain of the needle.

"Raphael…" Leo repeated.

"He seemed more like a Larry to me." Mike propped his head up with his hands on the end of the couch.

"That's what the foot guy called him, Larry…I mean Raphael." Casey slapped himself lightly on the head which was followed by scolds from Leo and Splinter.

"Donatello, splint the necessary spots as fast as you can so we can allow Casey Jones some rest. He obviously needs it." Splinter said while wiping the now stitched wound with water. "Whatever you do, do not itch."

"Aye, Sensei."

Once Don took about an hour to make the splints and apply them to the injured areas, there were a total of three; two on one arm and another around his back to support a fractured tailbone. Surprisingly, the area where Casey was hit that caused him to go unconscious was unharmed. After that, the brothers and Splinter retreated to their rooms to let Casey sleep in the peace and quiet. Once he woke up though, it would be strictly time for answering the questions that were surely going through everyone's mind. Where in the world is Raphael?


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: **(Raphael's POV)**

_I'm dead. I have to be dead. _

My head was throbbing and I had to keep my mouth wide open just to get enough air into my lungs. I was breathing, so that meant I was alive, right? I tried to open my eyes but all I could see was a blur, so I shut them.

"It's alright, you can wake up. No, you're not dead." It was a man's voice. One I didn't recognize.

I had to see who it was. I tried moving my arms and legs but they were being held down by something. Straps. I could feel the cold leather against my skin. I was being held captive. Whoever did this to me was about to get the beating of their lives once I got out of here.

"Good, I think you're awake now." The man's voice was echoing all around me. "My name is Oroku Saki, Raphael."

"Who…who are you?" I spoke with my eyes still closed. It felt like someone had strapped iron weights to them to keep them from opening.

"I am the man who is about to set you free." His voice made him sound strong and very powerful, like he was in control of everything. "I've been watching you ever since you got attacked by that gang you joined awhile back. I have to say, Raphael, I was certainly impressed with what I saw. Even though you had no experience at all, you killed all of them without obtaining a single scratch." He chuckled like he was proud. "I decided to adopt you as my own. However, I couldn't quite take you in yet. I needed you to be more fully trained, so I let the Dragons have you."

"And have me they did."

"I can see that sarcastic attitude of yours hasn't gone away. No matter, that can easily be…taken care of."

"Whatever you say." I finally opened my eyes and looked around the room. The first thing I looked for was exits which there were none of. This room was absolutely colossal. The red walls bent in an arch form and made the ceiling look ten times as high as it really was. At the end of the room was a thrown with two burning fires on either side of it. Someone give this guy a degree for interior design.

"The time for you to become mine has come, Raphael. You have learned so much from the Dragons. It's a shame I have to kill them all for betraying me, just like I did to your leader."

"Yah killed Hun because he protected me. Hun wasn't a monster at all; the monster was and is _you_. Who kills an innocent man!" I growled as loud as my aching head would allow me to.

"I don't think you should be criticizing me for killing innocent people when you're just as guilty."

I had nothing to say to that because he was right.

"So how can you run a City if it starts to defy you? You have to eliminate the kinks in the system. I gave Hun a chance. All he had to do was turn you over to the Foot but he decided to take the hard road. Now he had to pay the price for making that mistake." Saki was holding a long, sharpened sword in his hands.

Oroku Saki, or whatever he called himself, was a tall, petite yet well fit man. He wore some kind of masculine robe and had short cropped black hair with contrasting green eyes. I was surprised that he made a lot of big talk for such an un-horrifying human.

"What do yah want with me?"

"I want your skills, Raphael. I want to teach you more than you can possibly imagine. Make you invincible!" Saki held his arms out to his sides. "I can make the whole City fear you. Isn't that what you wanted all along?"

I grumbled in the back of my throat. How did he know that? How long has this guy been watching me? Angel mentioned something about ninja's coming around the warehouse at nights. Were those guys working for Saki?

"Yah don't know anything about me. Yah don't know what I've been through."

"I know you were raised by utroms, Raphael." He grinned at me and folded his hands together after putting the sword on a weapons rack.

"The Hell are you talkin about?"

"I'm guessing you don't know? Well, allow me to fill you in."

"Be my guest, Saky."

"When you escaped them, the utroms sent out a warning message to all research facilities on this half of the globe. You did escape them, didn't you?"

"Obviously." I snapped.

"Once I heard the message, I decided to keep an eye out so that I could have you. Luckily I found you several years later almost grown and completely venerable to my influence. However, something in my schedule came up so I allowed the Dragons to raise you, like I said before." Saki smiled as he walked around the chair I was strapped to. "I was more than happy to take you from the utoms anyway."

"What is that some kind of cult?"

"They are…were… a highly advanced alien species that crash landed on earth several million years ago. Up until your mutant birth, they were the most unbeatable force on this planet. However, they used their strength for good instead of using it the way strength is supposed to be used." Saki crushed one of his fists together in a tight ball. "Once you escaped, I saw my opportunity. They were weak and still recovering from the damage you did when you fled. I then used my forces to wipe them from the face of the planet."

"So you're saying make believe creatures from outer space did this to me? Yah sure, and I'm a saint."

"How dare you mock me!" Saki brought his arm up to his face and landed it on mine. I felt my neck move forcefully to the side, causing my headache to worsen. "You really think some _human_ could just do to you what was done? You have been given the power you now hold and you use it to pick on banks and run down stores!"

"Oh yeah? And what great thing have _you_ done besides piss me off?!"

"No, it is what great thing I _will_ do now that I have you in my possession. You mock you're kind by not taking your skills and applying them correctly." Saki's fists were still clenched and he looked like he was about to explode.

"My kind?!"

"The gifted. Not only are you a powerful mutant, but you have fighting skills like I have never seen before."

"Well thanks for the compliment." I grinned and cocked my head to the side. "Now how about I apply those skills and beat your face into the ground?"

"I will be sure Stockman removes your attitude glitch when he wipes your memory clean." Now Saki was the one who was grinning.

"What? You're ganna brainwash me?!"

"Only to get rid of past memories and anything that would affect your fighting skills. Everything I need will be left in and everything I do not need will be taken out. It will be like you have served me for years."

"No!"

I couldn't swallow what Saki was saying. If he erased my memory I would never be able to get my past straight. I wouldn't be able to fit the other turtles into it somehow because I will remember nothing but how to kill people and destroy everything in my path. I would be like a walking zombie; a slave to this man. I walk my own path; I don't take orders from anyone but myself. I needed to get out before this lunatic could go through with it.

**:: (Third Person)**

"Casey?" Leonardo stood over him.

"Just slap him on the face already."

"I think that would be anticlimactic."

"I got it."

April raised one of her arms in the air and brought it down on the side of Casey's cheek.

"OW!" He jolted upright as far as his cast would allow him to go and brought his fists up to his face. "Who hit me?!"

"I did. You've been asleep all day and your snoring is starting to wake up the residents in China." She handed him a cup of tea. "On the flip side, I'm glad to see you're alright. The guys told me what happened and I should slap you and Leo both." She smiled apologetically.

"Plus it's time for some answers." Leonardo sat down on the floor by the couch followed by his brothers shortly after.

"Give the man some time to wake up, Bro." Mikey laid down on the floor next to Donatello.

"Then we'll start slow." Leo refused to allow Casey any more time to rest. The eagerness in his eyes was almost tangible. "What happened last night? Start from the beginning."

"Well…" Casey held his hand to the top of his head where a throbbing pain was coming from. "After he took Angel back to her Grandmother's house…"

"Wait…he actually did it?" Leo looked surprised.

"Yes. I know, I was shocked too."

"Who took Raphael?" There was a sudden urge of desperation in Leonardo's voice when he spoke.

"The Foot clan." The battered vigilante sipped his tea, decided he didn't like it, and handed it back to April who rolled her eyes and went into the kitchen to get him so water instead. "They said they've been lookin for him or something."

"What would the Foot want with a Dragon?" Mikey pondered.

"He's not just a Dragon; he's a mutant, like us, an obviously powerful mutant." Leo stated.

"You think they might use Raphael against us, Leo?" Donatello asked, having an idea where his leader's thoughts were heading.

"Well, I don't know. The Foot hasn't been our main focus of conflict lately. It's been the Dragons so what would they want with us?" He asked rhetorically.

"Leo's got a point. I haven't seen you guys tango with the feet for a few years now. It's like they kinda forgot about you." Casey accepted a glass of water from April.

"So you're saying the Foot took this…Raphael character against his will, right?" April asked him. "They kidnapped him?"

"Yah, it certainly looked like kidnap to me." He sighed from the memory.

"They also said they've been looking for him." Leo stepped in. "That means goodbye to the Purple Dragons."

"How so?" Casey questioned.

"As far as I know, the Foot and the Dragons don't play very nicely together. I'm guessing Hun and Raphael ran their group together and by taking Raphael, you're pretty much destroying the team as a whole."

"Leo's right. When the Foot took Raph they were definitely plotting sabotage." April confirmed.

"So they're either going to kill him, or maybe even use him against the Dragons or _all_ their enemies for that matter." Don said with great emotion.

"So? What's the big deal? Aren't all the Foot's enemies our enemies? For example: the Dragons?" Mike sat up and crossed his legs over one another. "It would be nice to see them and the Foot dish it out."

"Who else is an enemy of the Foot, Mikey?" Casey looked at the orange clad turtle with stupidity.

"Umm…the muffin man?"

"Guess again." Leo said.

"Umm…..oh snap!"

"Exactly. US."

"None of us have ever really fought Raphael before though. He's never attacked us as a whole so who's to say he's unbeatable?" Don stood up and paced the living room. "We shouldn't be worried about him as an enemy."

"But he attacked ME. Before the Purple Dragons stepped into the picture, he was in the perfect position to kill me. I probably owe my life to those good for nothing scumbags." Casey was started to raise his voice.

"Shame he didn't." Mikey said to himself and then received a subtle high five from Donatello.

"Plus this is the Foot we're talking about. There's no doubt in my mind that they'll try to alter him somehow and make him stronger, maybe even invincible, that way he _can_ take us out." Leo was beginning to sound irritated as the conversation dragged on.

"So what do we do?" April asked. For a while, no one said anything because they all knew _exactly_ what had to be done. However, the question really was _how_ it was going to be done.

"I guess we have to rescue his sorry ass." Casey spat something into his glass.

"WHAT?! He tried to kill us and now we're ganna go save him?! What has the world come to?!" Mike put his hands on top of his head and pretended to faint.

"Listen, Mikey, if we don't get him out of there then what's to stop the Foot from turning him into a super mutant and using him to destroy us all? Not only us, but the entire _city_ could become victimized to that kind of power." Leonardo quantified.

"But we don't even know if that's what the Foot plan on doing! What if they just wanna have tea and cakes with him?!"

"Aren't you even the least bit curious as to why there's another mutant turtle living amongst you, Mikey?" April walked over to the apprehensive mutant and placed an arm around his shell. "If you get him out of there then you could become friends with him. Maybe even turn him good."

"I don't make friends with serial killers!"

"You're missing the point." She sighed.

"April's right. Remember when we turned Casey from _his_ ways?" Don laughed.

"I wasn't a criminal though!" He cried out in his defense.

"You were in a sense."

"The point is…we have to get him out of there whether we like it or not. And if it turns out the Foot weren't going to use him like we thought they were, at least we would have Raphael under our influence then." Leo stood up. "We could maybe even save a few lives."

"Well you guys have fun with that." Mike started to walk towards the kitchen. "I don't know about you, but I would like to keep my shell _on_ my back thank you very much."

"Oh no, you're coming with us Michelangelo." Leo told him.

"Think about it, not only are we going up against the Foot ninjas, but then we have that mentally confused hulk to take on too!" He shrieked while pulling a carton of milk out of the fridge.

"What if it was one of your brothers instead?" Leo went into the kitchen and forcefully took the carton from him. "What if Don or I got taken by the Foot? Would you still say the same thing you are now?"

"Don't be ridiculous! Not even a fresh slice of pizza could stop me from saving you…unless it had pepperoni."

"Then imagine Raphael as being one of your brothers. He's practically one of us anyway."

"But he' crazy!"

"No, he's confused. Why would the Dragons raise him to be good? He probably doesn't even know how to look at someone on the street and _not_ want to kill them. That guy needs help, not ignorance."

Mikey sighed and ran his fingers across the countertop. "You're too nice, Leo."

"I'm not nice, I'm a reasonable thinker." Leo gently tapped his brother's face and walked back into the living room.

"Count me in." Casey slowly threw the blankets off his body and started to get up.

"No, you're staying here and resting. You're injuries will just slow us down."

"None taken." Casey didn't argue with him and laid back down on the couch.

"Don't worry, Case, we'll find you a babysitter." Mikey snickered. "We'll be sure to tell them your diaper size and everything."

"April, do you mind?" Leo asked her.

"None at all." She smiled and placed the wet cloth on top of her boyfriend's head. "But I'm not changing any diapers."

"We should be back by the morning if everything goes as planned. I can't make any promises though." He told her while putting the blanket back on top of Casey Jones.

"I can stay here as long as you need me. Just be careful. That Raphael guy makes my nerves stand on end more than the Foot does."

"We'll be fine. Call if you need anything."

The brothers gathered their equipment and collected by the door. After making sure Casey and April were alright, and Splinter knew where they were going, the walked out of the door having absolutely no idea if they would ever return.


	12. Chapter 12

: Chapter 12: **(Third Person)**

"'Hey Mikey, what cool interesting stuff do you do for fun?' Oh you know, infiltrate the Foot headquarters and try to save a mutant who means absolutely nothing to me all while trying not to lose our lives to the insanity of all their ninjas!"

"Would you be quiet!" Leonardo threatened to back hand his little brother who hadn't shut up the whole way to Times Square.

"It's a shame I forgot the muzzle." Don teased.

"We're almost there, Mikey, and if you make one sound…" Leo raised his arm in a bluff to strike the orange clad turtle until he cowered close to the roof and begged to be spared.

"I get it!" He whispered. "No more hablaring."

"Looks like those 3 years of Spanish really paid off." Don rolled his eyes.

"Let's go." Leo led his two brothers to the edge of the skyscraper they landed on moments ago.

Even though it was pitch black outside and the sky didn't even have the small twinkling of its stars, the lights from Times Square made everything look alive and ecstatic. People down below walked busily across the streets and sidewalks while police men on horses patrolled the area around the most popular places.

"Must be nice to just walk around without a care." Mikey looked down on the people with saddened eyes. "I wonder if Raphael thinks the same thing. Oh wait, he's too violent to think of anything really." He turned away from the street and stiffened his body. "'I Raphael, I eat innocent people and poop H-bombs.'"

"Enough, Michelangelo." Leo warned him. "According to April's directions, the Foot headquarters is just on the other side of Times Square…"

"…hiding in plain sight." Don added.

"Sadly, yes. So that means we have to be extra careful. Right, Mikey?"

"Hey, careful is my middle name." He grinned.

"Along with "bonehead," "no brain," "loud mouth," and "clutz."" Don shook his head and sighed. "You know, Leo, I would've been alright with leaving Mikey at home."

"I know but we need the extra man power if we're ever going to get in and out of there alive with Raphael." Leo jumped onto the next rooftop and started to head towards the other side of Times Square.

"Speaking of Raphael…" Mikey called out as he followed close behind his leader. "What are we ganna do once we have him?"

"I don't know. I haven't gotten that far yet." Leo flipped over onto his hands and used the power of his arms to throw himself in the air and land a few stories down on the next building.

"Maybe you should beat the shell out of him like you did last time…and the time before that."

"That was before I knew all the stuff I knew about him."

"You mean like him being a cold-blooded killer? No pun intended." Mikey tripped on the edge of the roof and lost his balance for a quick second but quickly recovered.

"No, I mean before he helped rescue Angel from the Dragons and bring her back home to her Grandmother. There's some good in him and I can see it even though most people can't." Leo landed gracefully on the next rooftop and held his hand up for his team to stop. "Silence from here on. We're here."

**:: (Raphael's POV)**

Hours had gone by - hours of hunger and thirst and brutal torment. I didn't know how much more I could take after this day. I hadn't seen Saki since I first woke up what seemed like forever ago and now all of my activities were being over seen by Zeeke, the guy whose throat I wanted to rip out. He had put me into a jail cell about an hour ago with nothing inside it except one window (that had a wonderful view of a white hallway) and a stupid wooden side table. I had been staring at it ever since I got in here and now I wanted to fly over there and tear it apart with my bare hands. If this was how they were going to erase my memories, it wasn't doing anything except making me go insane.

On top of it, Zeeke's voice boomed into the room every once in a while to give me directions. I never listened to him though, not ever. When he said go sit by the top left corner, I stayed still. When he said stand up, I stayed still. When he said I wasn't doing anything to help myself, I flipped him off.

He said all the arrangements for my memory wiping were nearly complete and within a few more hours I would remember nothing about my past. I would be Saki's robot, his killer, his chore boy, just like I was to Hun. I didn't care about all the innocent lives I might take, I only cared about giving Saki what he wanted. It made me feel sick to think that pretty soon I would be obeying his every command like a sick dog looking for treats. I would soon rather impale myself with a leg from that side table.

"You can't sit there forever, Asagai." Zeeke's voice said.

That was another thing. They've been calling me Asagai, the name given to me by the first group I had been in. I guess they didn't like the fact of me having a name with Purple Dragon origin. Not only will I be mindless, but I'll have a dumb ass name to go with it.

"It's _Raphael_ and always will be." I reminded him with a scowl.

"You must be getting pretty thirsty. When's the last time you've drank something?"

I tried to remember. The last thing I've eaten or drunken was probably that old sewer water I got my face thrown into a few days ago. His question suddenly made my tongue go extremely dry and my throat started to scratch itself whenever I swallowed. By now the pain of hunger had gone away and I felt sicker than I did anything else. I wasn't going to give up so easily, though. Like I said, I would much rather die.

"When's the last time you've gotten a good beat down?" I said back to him.

"Here." One of the square panels in the room opened and pushed out a tray with a glass of water on it with something bubbling inside. "It's just Asprin." Zeeke said. "All you have to do is get up and get it. We don't need you dying on us before your operation now do we?"

"Wouldn't that be a shame?" I leaned back tighter into my corner and brought my knees as close to my chest as they would go. Finding this position rather uncomfortable, I opened my legs up and put both my wrists on either one of them. I let my tail, which was usually tight inside my shell, fall out and touch the cold, metal floor. I could do this for hours, Zeeke. I'm just getting started.

"If you don't take the medicine then I'm going to have to send in men to make you do it." His voice sounded determined.

"If you send them in then yah better send a few body bags, too" I yawned like I was bored and leaned my head back against the wall.

"Why do you bother holding back when your fate is already sealed?"

I chuckled deeply and shut my eyes. "It's called going out with a bang. Give me a gun and I could make yours go out like that, too."

There was a brief moment of silence before he spoke again. "Why not try to escape?"

"You would like that wouldn't yah? To watch me try and break free from here when yah know I can't. The last thing I'm ganna do is give yah what you want."

Another pause came but longer this time. "Do you remember anything before you were kidnapped by the Utroms? Maybe the family you were born into?"

"How should I know? I probably have 1000 brothers and sisters."

"You're specific breed of turtle happens to only lay about 3 to 4 eggs each year." Zeeke said in a tone that made me want to cut out his throat. "I know you probably don't remember much about that time, but I was hoping you did. All this talk of "going out with a bang" didn't come from the Dragons teachings. It was probably prior knowledge."

"Maybe my dear old Utrom parents taught it to me." I was only amusing myself now.

"No…" Zeeke's voice suddenly turned violent. "Do you remember the three other turtles you were with before you were mutated?"

"Yes, its crystal clear even after all these years." I mocked him.

"What if those were part of your hatch set?"

"How should I know and why do I care?!" He was starting to drive my patience off the wall. What in the world was he trying to get at? Saki threatened to take _away_ my memories, not bring them back.

"Maybe they taught you a thing or two before your mutation. Maybe that's why you're so stuck up."

"I don't think three hatchlings taught me anything about pride."

"It takes a lot of pride to be displayed in a pet store window…don't you think?"

"Well I'll have to call and thank them. I'll put it on my bucket list, too." I said and after that, the speaker stayed silent. I'm glad it did though, because it gave me time to think about everything. About all the stuff I never got to accomplish, about the one thing I wanted so badly to figure out…

"Oh my God." I stood up abruptly. "What happened to them?!"

"The same thing that happened to you, except in a different way." Zeeke sounded satisfied at my response.

"How?!"

"Drink the Asprin, Asagai."

"It's Raphael!" I grabbed the glass of water and downed it in a few seconds. "Now tell me."

**:: (Leo's POV)**

"Damn this place is fricken huge." Mike leaned over Don's shoulder as he punched in a few things on his laptop. We were stationed inside one of the buildings air vents while trying to figure out where the Foot might be holding Raphael.

"If the Foot is trying to alter Raphael, there probably doing it in the laboratory." Don said. He wasn't talking to us though; he was talking through an earpiece that held April on the other end.

"Yes but how do you know they're working on him _right now_? The lab is a difficult place to get _in_ and _out_ of. If he's not there then you just would have wasted time. I think you should try the holding cells first and then if he's not there, try the lab." Her voice was clear for us to hear.

"The holding cells probably aren't on this map, April. That's confidential information." He sighed.

"If you give me a few minutes I can hack into the system and get a full blueprint layout." She responded and then went quiet.

"Check it out, dudes!" Mike whispered. His face was planted over one of the vents in the shaft. "There's like, Foot ninja everywhere."

"Then maybe you should be quiet before you alert them of our position." I pulled him away from the vent.

"You know what would be weird?"

I rolled my eyes and saw Donatello do the same.

"Like, if we were actually related to Raph."

"In a sense we are since we're all of the tortoise family." Don stated.

"No but I mean like…we all hatched together."

"Well then we can call him _your_ brother, Michelangelo, since he _is_ a cold-blooded killer and all." Don teased.

"Guys, enough talking." I shut them up and made them wait in silence until April responded back.

"Ok guys, it looks like the holding cells are on the 16th floor." She said.

"Can you maybe pin it down for us?" Don read my facial expression and asked.

"I'm sorry; I had to get through 13 firewalls just to get you _that_ information. Anything else and the security systems might detect me."

"Alright, thanks April." Don said and pressed a button on his earpiece. "Looks like we're on our own."

"When are we ever not?" Mikey laughed and started to crawl on his hands and knees down the air shaft. We were on floor 11, not far from our destination. Once Don estimated we had climbed high enough through the elevator, I made the decision to split the team up.

"We can cover more ground if we each take one section and make a clean sweep. Once you think you've found it, come back here and wait for the others." I said and sent each of my brothers down one direction. However, I hadn't taken two steps when I heard Mikey say he had found it.

"My shell you did." Don crawled back over and looked through Mikey's vent. "Well slap my plastron."

"Good work, Mikey."

"I know I'm amazing, what can I say? You guys should respect me more often."

"Don't get ahead of yourself." I moved them away so I could see for myself. The aerial view wasn't very clear but I could see a sign on the wall that said "Experimental Keeping." I had to get a closer look. "Everyone back up." I grabbed ahold of the vent and pulled it out of place. Then, I slowly lowered my head through the opening and took a look around. Long and behold, there were white cell doors on either side of the hallway with numbers, names and information on them.

"This is it." I grabbed ahold of the shaft and dropped the rest of my body through. When I landed on the ground, I motioned for my brothers to wait for my signal. When I decided it was clear, I allowed them to enter. They dropped down with exceptional grace and immediately pulled their weapons to the ready.

"Damn, this could take hours." Mike complained.

"Not if we work quickly. Remember, even though we don't blend in well in this hallway, try to hide before starting a commotion." With that, I sent them down one direction while I went the other. I checked every door, every name and looked in through each small window that was there. Most of them were empty but once in a while I could find one that had a sick looking person inside.

I crossed the hall to the other side and peeked in through the next door's window. My heart almost skipped a beat as I quickly ducked out of the way. The door opened towards me and then shut, revealing a man in a white lab coat who started to walk the other way. I'd never gripped my swords so tightly in my life, if he turned around, I would probably have to quickly silence him in a way I really didn't want to.

He didn't though, he kept walking until he reached a corner and then he was gone. That was almost too close.

I stood back up and peeked through the window again. It didn't look like the other cells. It looked almost like a control room with three men stationed at computers and panels with hundreds of switches on them. Above all of that, was a large TV screen that kept changing images every once in a while. It would show a number at the top and then an empty cell with the exception of a full cell.

I waited, and waited, constantly checking the halls to make sure no one was coming. It felt like hours but eventually, I saw what I was looking for. Cell 63A-4B had the crystal clear image of a large, green, mutant on the inside with blood spattered all over the walls.

**You can thank DuskmoonSplashy for this wonderful cliffhanger. Thanks for all the reviews guys! Yall rock!**


	13. Chapter 13

**I put this in my doc manager and forgot to upload it. I'm sorry!**

: Chapter 13: **(Raph's POV)**

I was under Zeeke's control even when he was nowhere near me. I was prisoner to his constant talking with no way to block him out. Not even smashing the wooden side table had stopped him from speaking that is, until I started to draw my own blood with the sharpened legs of the table. At first he thought I wouldn't do it but then it became clear I was ready to kill myself. He hasn't spoken since.

What he had told me had shot me right through the heart, making the blood in the room seem to have a reason to be there. Everything I knew about myself was a lie and these assholes knew more about my own past then I did. Turns out they'd been following me ever since I escaped the pet shop because they'd also been following the Utroms at the time. If you ever won't lesson on how to stalk people, I can hook you up.

Saki had lied (no surprise there). They didn't start watching me when I escaped my first gang; they've been on my tail from the very beginning.

Apparently the Utroms and Saki (who I just now found out was the leader of the Foot), go way back into an extreme rivalry. One day, Saki had some of his men spying on them to try and figure out a code to their facility when one of his ninjas reported them experimenting on an animal, me. On their way back, the saw one of the Utrom's transport trucks heading to the facility and used throwing stars to knock it off course. A kid carrying the same three baby turtles that I was with in the pet shop, DROPPED THEM DOWN A GRATE along with a few cases of mutagen that the truck was carrying.

So they've watched my progress from there on but NOT my brothers for some reason. Maybe it was because they were lost in the sewers. So when I escaped, Saki originally sent a team to pick me up but they were intercepted by the original gang who took me in (and apparently killed as well). Then, Saki, who was weak at the time, was actually the one who got that gang to see me as a traitor and not one of the gang members like the leader had told me. He had set me up so he could take me from them. It's good to know I killed all those people for nothing. I know, it sucks but oh does it get worse.

So then the Purple Dragons beat Saki to me AGAIN and by this time he had something else in the Ukraine going on that he had to deal with so he let the Dragons adopt and train me so now here I am. Now, Saki plans on wiping out the entire city of its gangs so he can take it over and be named supreme ruler of Manhattan by using yours truly.

Give Raphael a gun and he'll want a bullet to go with it. I didn't have any reason to believe anything that Zeeke said but to my surprise, I did. The only reason I did was because Zeeke, Saki, and the Foot had nothing to lose. My mind was about to get wiped soon anyway and I wouldn't remember anything.

"So I attacked my own brothers. MY OWN BROTHERS ATTACKED ME." I slammed both my hands against a wall and hung my head. Did they know we were related? Even though it might have been obvious, there's no way they could have known. If they did, I'm sure they would have come looking for me, right? Aint that what brothers do?

"And you will be attacking them again, Asa.."

"Don't you dare call me Asagai!" I picked up one of the legs from the wooden table and held it to my neck. "Don't think I won't do it!" I started to wonder if maybe I should. I couldn't hurt my brothers or anyone if I was dead.

"Don't make me send in…hey what the-…" There was a scrambling sound over the speaker and a bunch of scuffled up noises. Things started crashing while I heard men shrieking. Someone yelled to call security but he didn't have much of a chance to do it before he went silent.

"Hello? Did someone's mom come to visit or somthin'?" I walked towards the window and looked out. All seemed quiet…

"I'm assuming this is the holding cell of Raphael."

I'll be damned.

"Damnit, Leonardo. What are yah doin here?!" As happy as I was to hear his voice, I wanted to slice his throat at the same time. He and I still had unfinished business…

"Raph, were you playing with tomatoes again? OW!" A different voice came over the speaker followed by a smacking sound. "Anyway, this big softie over here suggested that we come and rescue you. Why? Don't ask me."

"Wait…you came to rescue me? After everything I did?" I sounded stupid but I was incredibly shocked that someone actually…cared.

"Under one condition." Leo's voice came back all happy and sweet sounding. "You come back with us for questioning and if you struggle…" He didn't say anymore because he knew I got the memo.

"I think I'd rather have my brain erased then go anywhere with you."

"How ironic you say that." Another voice came over. "Because we got to thinking that the Foot was going to erase your memory and use you as an ultimate weapon or something." He chuckled like it was a dumb fantasy. However, when I stayed quiet and put a smirk on my face…

"You're joking…"

"Nope. These assholes are legally insane."

"Pfft…they aint the only ones…OW! STOP HITING ME. OW!"

"Would you keep quiet, Mikey! Don, you and Mike head to Raphael's cell and see if you can unlock it. I'll try and figure it out from here." I heard Leo order his brothers…_our_ brothers. A few noises came over until it faded away and I figured they had left.

A few flashes of awkward silence swept the room. "What are you in for?" He asked me.

"Very funny." I rolled my eyes.

"This rescue doesn't change anything. You can't erase everything you did and you're lucky I don't come in there and kill you myself. It would certainly save me the hassle."

"Aint there a law against killing family members?" I leaned up against the wall and crossed my bloody arms over my chest.

"Just because we're both turtles doesn't mean we're…"

"That aint what Zeeke said, _Leonardo_." I cut him off and stopped to see if he could figure it out. When he didn't say anything, I went ahead and told him. "He told me we're apparently brothers. Born in a pet shop together and put on sale together."

"I would have remembered something like that. I would remember if I had another sibling." I could tell he was trying to deny it.

"That's probably because I escaped early on since I was obviously the smart one. It's funny how I remember you but you don't remember me." I looked into the small camera in the corner of the room. I wonder if I had gotten under his skin yet…

"If you remembered then why didn't you say something before I beat the Hell outta you?" He sounded agitated. It made me happy to think that I was the one who caused it.

"I remembered bein' with other turtles but I didn't think we were related!" I snapped.

He stayed silent for the rest of the time until I heard knocking on my cell door.

"Yohoo?" A lime green turtle with an orange mask, Michelangelo, poked his head through the window. "Did someone order a rescue team?"

"Raph." The olive skinned turtle, Donatello, pushed the other one out of the way. "I need you to tell Leo to look at the control panel." His words were muffled through the glass and I could barely make out what he was saying.

"Leo, Don wants yah to look at the control panel thingy." I told him.

"Now, there should be a bunch of two-way switches." Don used his fingers to gesture something that made on sense to me.

"He said 'there should be a bunch of all day bitches.'"

"SWITCHES! TWO-WAY SWITCHES." He yelled and face palmed while Mike bent over and started laughing.

"Oh sorry, _switches_." I grinned.

"I see it. They all have letters on them." Leo replied, sounding different than before.

"He said…"

"Yah I can hear him." Don gave me a frown and disappeared under the door. I ran over to it out of curiosity and tried to look for them. He appeared a second later, giving me a frickin heart attack.

"Damn you're so ugly up close." Mike mouthed and started laughing.

"At least I aint ugly _all_ the time." I said to myself and flipped him off.

"I don't roll like that. Sorry." He said loud enough so I could hear him. Don slapped him on the head and I figured he told him to shutup. If we got caught I was blaming it on him.

"Raph, tell Leo to try switch 32B." Don told me.

"He said try switch 42E."

"NO!" Don pounded on the glass. He used his fingers to show a 3 and a 2. Then he made a weird shape with his hands like he was being sworn into court. When I shook my head wondering what the hell he was doing, he exhaled on the glass and wrote a "B" in the fog.

"Oh, 32B."

"I already hit 42E!" Leo said.

Don and Mike looked at each other and then down the hallway. They pulled out their weapons and backed away from my room. I tried to peek out and see what was going on but the small window didn't allow for much vision. Suddenly, Don twirled his Bo-staff and jabbed it into something that I couldn't see.

"I think they got trouble! Let me out!" I pounded on the door with my fist.

"Oh, so you can attack them?! I don't think so."

"I don't wanna hurt them! They're my brothers let me out!" I hit the glass window so hard that it shattered into a million pieces. The glass cut all the way up the side of my hand and forced blood all over the door.

"What's going on?!" I asked them.

"The prisoner in 42E apparently wanted to stay that way!" Mikey dodged a huge fist that was thrown at him and jumped away quickly to avoid another.

I turned away from the window and to the camera. I hated feeling like I was under his control, even though I was. I had no intentions of hurting my brothers but if he didn't let me out, I would have all the intentions of hurting him.

"Please!" I yelled to it but nothing happened. Now I felt stupid for saying please.

"Leo let him out! We can't take this guy!" Don was suddenly thrown out of my line of vision and landed somewhere with a big thud. The door stayed shut.

"Damnit, Leo! Open the door!" I couldn't believe he was keeping me in here. If he didn't let me out his brothers would probably be pounded into nonexistence right before my eyes. This was no time for him to be protective, I needed him to trust me even though I knew it was asking for a lot.

"Don't make me regret this." He said, and the door opened.

I quickly grabbed one of the legs of the side table and jumped out of my room, smashing into the other side of the wall. I pushed Mike behind me and faced the monster in front of me.

"Oh my God…" I dropped the leg and took a step back. I started to wish that Leo let the door shut and kept me inside. "HUN?!"

**Hun Hun HUUN. Get it? Hun instead of Dun…yeah it's been a long day. Lol**


	14. Chapter 14

: Chapter 14:

"HUN?!"

"Oh boy. This is awkward." I heard Mikey say from behind me.

He was right. Seeing Hun ALIVE in front of me was causing my whole body to go stiff. I couldn't' even move my lungs and keep myself breathing anymore. I kept the table leg firm in my grasp but I could feel my grip loosening as Hun stared me down through his bloodshot eyes. His hair was short and fell to the bottom of his forehead. A large, white bandage was also wrapped around his head with blood starting to seep through it.

"But…They had you're head! How are yah still alive?!"

Hun, completely ignoring me, raised his fists in the air and brought them down on the floor. Had I not jumped away, I would have been flattened instantly. "Hun, the hell are yah doin?! It's me, Raphael!" I repeatedly yelled to him but he wasn't responding. It was like he couldn't even hear me. "Don't yah remember me?!"

He swung his fist around and landed it on my side. He slammed me up against another steel door that bent from the impact. I fell to the ground and spit blood from my mouth.

"Alright." Now I was pissed.

"ARGH!" I saw his hand coming around again in the corner of my eye. This time, I used the leg and hit his arm as hard as I could with it. It shattered down to a stub but left Hun with a bloody appendage. He grabbed it and staggered backwards, shrieking out of pain.

"What should we do?" It was Leo's voice, calm and collected. Nice of him to join us.

"Just stay outta it! Get out of here!" I used my arm to motion them to leave before Hun got back up.

"No way! We're not leaving you!"

"Why not?! This aint you're fight!"

"Because brothers don't leave each other to die!" He declared.

I took my eyes off Hun and looked at Leonardo. He looked different then the last time I saw him (days ago). He looked exhausted and weak. Had I not recently found out he was my brother, I would have used this opportunity to get even with him.

"Say what now?" Mike asked with a high pitched, girl tone.

"Don, Mikey, meet the turtle who is apparently our long lost brother." He pulled out two katana from behind his shell.

"For real?!" Mike looked thrilled and gave me a huge smile.

"Fight now, reunion later, ok?" Don pointed to Hun who was getting up off the ground.

"Is that Hun?" Leo asked while walking up next to me.

"I'm just as surprised as you are. I thought he was dead."

"Don't you know you can't kill Hun?" Mike stepped in line with us.

"I don't know. He aint respondin to me. He should remember me so…" I froze mid-sentence and rethought it in my head. Hun _doesn't_ _remember_ me. "….God damnit." Now I was even more paralyzed.

"What?" Don looked over at me.

"Zeeke threatened to wipe my memory to destroy The Dragons and implant only things that would benefit them. You think…Hun…"

"We can worry about it later, dudes." Mike swallowed hard. "Sleepy beauty wants to play again."

I snapped out of it and forced my body to react to my orders. "Well then let's put this beauty back to rest." I threw away the stub and clenched my fists.

"Dude, rule number one, leave the cool sayings to me, ok?" He winked nonchalantly.

I rolled my eyes and then landed them on Hun. I hadn't realized how badly I'd cut him with that damn leg. Blood was spattered all over the walls and his skin had gone from California tan to Antarctic white. He didn't waste any time. When he saw us, he started running down the hallway in an attempt to smash right through the line we had made. The hallway we were in was too small, however, and we all couldn't jump out of the way in time to dodge his massive frame. I went under his legs, Leo went over his shoulders but Don and Mike ended up getting their shells pinned up against the walls by fists the size of celling fans.

"Do you always have to get them outta trouble?" I asked Leo while watching the two of them struggle to break free.

"What are leaders for?" He jumped up onto Hun's back and sheathed his swords. Just when I was about to question his stupidity, he used his small hands to grasp a small piece of skin below Hun's wrist. The giant's grip on the turtles suddenly loosened and they dropped to the ground, unharmed.

"Thanks Bro." They both said at the same time. Now it was Leo riding on Hun's back as he tried to maneuver his huge arms around his neck and to the spot where he was being ridden. Leo pulled out one of his swords and smashed the butt of it up against the back of Hun's neck, making him drop to the floor with his eyes closed. When Leo graciously landed on the floor in front of us, I'm sure I looked like an idiot to him with my mouth hanging open.

"What the hell was that?" I was slightly jealous of the minor amount of hard work it took for him to take Hun down.

"Pressure points. I could show you sometime."

"Perhaps another time." Don had some strange watch on his wrist that was projecting an image to him. "We got security heading inbound by the north side. We have to get out of here."

No chiz Sherlock.

"Come on. I know the way out." I said instead of throwing a smartass remark at him.

"How do _you_ know the way out?" The brainiac questioned me with an unnecessary amount of sass, making my blood slightly boil.

"Well I sure wasn't blindfolded when they brought me in here." I tilted my neck to the side until a satisfying cracking sound came from it. "This way." I walked over to Hun's fallen body and stepped over it.

"I like him." I heard Mike say. "I can't believe we actually have another brother!"

"Not until I run blood tests." Don growled. I could tell him and I weren't ganna get along very well for some reason. Then again, I might not get along very well with _any_ of these guys for that matter.

Mike caught up to me just as we made a left turn out of the holding cells and into a larger, silver hallway. As soon as we were there, Leo demanded we went faster after Don said another group of men was coming from an eastward direction. Not long after that, sirens began to sound and a robot sounding woman's voice projected overhead saying that the whole building was going on lockdown due to escaped prisoners. It was nice to mention we were armed and dangerous as well. Armed, no, dangerous, yes (me anyway).

"April, we need a way out and fast! There's nowhere to hide." Don sounded frustrated. I didn't bother to check how he was communicating with that April chick but I decided to let him worry about that and just focus on getting the hell outta here.

"That's exactly what they want, Donnie boy!" Mike was just having the time of his life, jumping around and frolicking through the halls.

"Get your head straight, Michelangelo!" Leo warned him from behind us. "We're outnumbered if we get caught!"

"Yeah but who can take three ninjas and a…" Mike looked at me and frowned. "…drug dealer?"

"No."

"Thug?"

"No." I growled.

"I got it." He shaped his fingers around my face. "Vigilante!"

"Move it!" I grabbed his carapace and pulled him out of the line of an arrow. It planted itself in the wall behind us and left a cracked mark all around it. As if that wasn't enough, it exploded a few moments later, making us run as fast as we could down the hall, straight for an enemy we couldn't even see.

"Any day now, April!" Don yelled. I had no idea how he was running as fast as he was with the huge bag he had slung over his shoulder. "April said the only door that isn't looked is the front entrance!"

"Why would they leave the front entrance open?!" Mike kept looking back to the hole in the wall.

"They're corralling us! We need another way out!" Leo bellowed.

"Where's Siri when you need her!" Mike whined.

I tried to get my good for nothing brain to think as we ran. "Take a right!" I grabbed Mike's arm and threw him down the next hallway. He rolled several times on his back before finally coming to a stop. Man that felt good.

"How did you guys get in?" We took a minute to catch our breath.

"Through the air vents but we came in through an opening on the 11th floor from the outside." Leo talked like I had just asked a really dumb question.

"So why can't it be our way out?"

"You wanna drop 11 floors to your death?!" Mike squealed. "We detached our grappling hooks and threw them before we came in."

"Then how did yah expect to get out?!" I was outraged. Hadn't they thought this through before they got here?! I had to cut them a break though. They didn't have to come rescue me at all.

"We were hoping to steal a card key from one of the workers and get out through the back exit. Since the buildings on LOCKDOWN and I don't have access to the motherboard, it's out of the question." Don stood up straight and played with his watch thingy. "April, please, check again."

"You shouldn't have come for me."

"Don't tell us what we should and should not have done for you. You're lucky as hell that we did." Leo shot me an ugly look of disgust. "We're here now and we're going to get through this and if we have to fight, we fight together." I could tell he was still skeptical with me. I could tell by the way he was standing that he was ready to take me out if I tried anything. Getting them to trust me, and trying to trust them was going to take years of perfection.

I dropped his gaze and focused my attention to Michelangelo who was strolling around the hallway with his arms behind his back. There was no way I was related to this idiot.

"Ooh! Is this like a laundry chute? The Foot does laundry?" Mike pulled a handle that opened something out of the wall. "Hey, I think there's something down there."

"Mike, get away from that." Leo ordered him.

Just when he was about to pull his head out, something loud fell down the chute and made metal on metal sounds until it faded in the distance.

"NO! CHUKY NUMERO UNO!" I couldn't believe my eyes when that fool tried to reach and grab whatever fell, making him loose his grip with the floor and fall straight down in.

"MIKEY!" We all screamed. The three of us ran over to the chute and pulled it open.

"MIKEY!" Leo yelled. "What is he thinking?!"

"Wait a minute…" Don's watch made high pitched sounds as he toyed around with it. "Hey, this leads right to the dumpster out back!"

"So, Mikey found an exit?" I asked.

"Mikey…found an exit." Leo confirmed. "Don, you go first."

The purple masked turtle hesitated and glared at Leo and I with apprehensive eyes. "What if he tries something?" He cocked his head at me.

"He won't. He remembers what happened last time." Leo put his hands on his waist and slightly grinned at me. I moved my jaw around and gave Don a fake smile.

"Yah. I remember" and gestured to the chute. "After you."

He crossed his arms over his chest and remained unmoved. "No."

"They went this way!" Voices were echoing through the hallway we had just escaped from.

"God Speed, Donatello." I grabbed the handle of the chute and literally threw Donatello through it. I was half expecting Leo to punch me for doing it but he didn't. After that, he told _me_ to go. I didn't waste any time and jumped through. The cascade was big enough for me to slide through but my arms rubbed up against the hard, metal siding and gave my skin a horrible burning sensation the whole entire way.

After what seemed like hours, I was suddenly flushed with a burst of cold air and the smell of what seemed like rotting flesh. There were various human trashes all around me and some disgusting green slime that I just put my hand in.

"If you EVER touch me again I'm going to decapitate your organs from your body and…AND…" Don looked like he wanted to hit me but didn't. Instead, he grabbed my arm and threw me out of the dumpster. I managed to catch myself before slamming face first into a brick wall.

"Hehe." Mike snickered but looked away when I turned and hissed at him.

Moments later, we all expected Leonardo to drop through the chute, but he didn't.

"Where's Leo?! What did you do?!" Don was on me like a wild dog. Even though we was slightly shorter then I was, he had me up against the wall with no problem. Still, if I fought back, that would be a different story.

"Why yah blamin me?! I came down right after you did! I wouldn't have had any time to do anything to him!"

"I bet you hurt him so the Foot could take him!"

"Donnie, chill out man!" Mike grabbed the back of his brother's shell and pulled him off me. The olive skinned turtle paced back and forth with his hands fully covering his face.

"What's his problem?" I asked Mikey.

"Beats me. He was never like this until _you_ came along."

"Leo!" Don called up the chute. I felt guilty for going down before he did when we knew the Foot was close behind us. It will probably be my fault if he gets captured by them too. "We have to go back!"

"We can't, Bro! Leo would want us to get back to the lair!"

"We can't leave him! He's our brother!"

"Don's right." I agreed. "I'm not leaving until he's with us." I knew for sure it was Leonardo's idea to come and rescue me. What a nice way to repay him back by leaving him behind.

"We're ganna get caught!" Mike's happy attitude flipped sides and now he joined Don in a worried state.

"We'll wait a few more minutes and if he aint down, I'll go back up." I offered. Right when I ended my sentence, a heap of green came falling down into the trash.

"Leo!" Don jumped in and pulled him out. I almost recoiled back at what I saw. The Foot must have gotten ahold of him. "What happened?"

"Go, now!" He pointed to a manhole cover. Mike quickly pulled it off and jumped down but appeared moments later to help lower Leo down inside. Carefully, the two of them managed to get him down the stairs without dropping anything. I heard them step into the water as they made it to the bottom.

I just stood there and stared at the dark hole. I didn't know if I was invited to join them or not considering the odds.

"Hey, yah comin vigilante?" Mike said. I almost protested but when I heard something coming down the chute, I quickly jumped down and pulled the cover over top of me, awakening the darkness.

**Thanks for all the reviews! I'm starting to fall behind with my stories because I have a lot going on. I'm getting a job, getting ready for Prom and yadda yadda. I'm going to take maybe 3 days to get as many chapters written as I can and then I'll start uploading again. Trying to do 2 stories at one time was NOT a good idea on my part. NEVER DO IT. **


	15. Chapter 15

: Chapter 15:

I would like to say that Leo, Don, and Mikey trusted me wholehearted and that was why they let me follow them to their hideout without a blindfold on. I would like to say that was the case, but it wasn't. It took two turtles to carry Leonardo through the dark, mucky sewers due to the extent of his injuries. Whatever had happened before he jumped down the chute must have been strictly business. Don had wanted to blindfold me but seeing how injured Leo was, he didn't feel like wasting time arguing with me. I was following them either way, so he gave up.

"Leo, talk to me." I had one of his bloody arms around my neck and one hand wrapped around the back of his shell. It felt weird to be touching him without it being an attack.

He didn't speak, he only moaned painfully as Mikey and I dragged him the best we could while following close behind Donatello.

"How much longer? I don't think he can go much further." I'd never heard that much concern in Mikey's voice before, then again, I hadn't known him that long but it felt like I had. It woke me up and told me how serious Leo's condition really was. If Leo really was my bro, you can bet your ass the Foot was going to pay for this.

"Up ahead." Don ran a small distance ahead and stopped dead at a wall. He pulled some kind of pen looking thing out of his bag and flashed it over a screen. A bunch of beeping sounds came from it and then the wall separated into two, revealing light on the inside. "Bring him in."

"_NO_, we were just ganna leave him out here and hope someone with a degree in mutant medicine finds him." Mike sighed. "Dude move." He looked at me and pulled on his half of Leo.

I was frozen. I didn't know if I wanted to go in there in the first place let alone face the giant rat that had its eyes skewed at me from the other side. The light coming from the room was enough to illuminate my face and make my eyes squint a little until they adjusted to it. I figured the rat was wondering what the hell I was doing there. I wonder if he knew about me…

"Dad, Leo is hurt really bad." Don stayed by the entrance with the rat.

"Leo!" Out of the room came April with Casey following close behind her. I don't know why I felt the need to protect the injured turtle in my arms, but I did. April and Casey coming right at me just set me off and I pulled out on of my Sais with my free hand. I held it over Leo's head and jolted it towards them when they came too close.

"Raph! You're alright!" Casey walked up to me with a huge smile on his face. He looked like he got hit by a bus and then thrown off the edge of a cliff. There was a cast around his torso and two more on his body. I must say, I was surprised to see him. I thought for sure the Foot would've taken care of him.

"I see you made it out alive."

"I see you did too." He brought his hand up and smacked it against my arm. "We should probably get him inside." He pointed to Leo who had started to moan again.

"I'll take him." April reached for his arms but I raised my Sai again to get her to stay away. Casey got defensive and pushed my arm down while shooting a look at me.

"I got it. Cmon Mikey." I used my head to gesture to the open door. Don told us to set him down on their small, wooden kitchen table. He grimaced a little while we struggled to lift him but once he was settled, he sighed with relief.

"What happened?" The rat asked while floating his hands over Leo's body.

"A lot." Don looked at me and frowned. "We went to rescue Raphael but while we were trying to escape, the Foot must have gotten ahold of him."

"You didn't see what happened?" Casey asked.

"Nope." Don gave me another look. I was so close to jumping across this pathetic waste of a tree table and landed my fist right between his eyes. "Can you guys help Splinter with Leo? I need to check something."

"No problem, Don." April jumped in front of me and started to run a wet cloth across Leo's body, wiping away dry and fresh blood.

"You wouldn't mind submitting to a blood test, would you?" Don was right next to me. His words had drawn everyone's attention.

"Why?" Nosey Casey asked.

"He claims we're related."

"Zeeke, a member of the Foot, claims we're related. Trust me, I don't wanna be related to you either." I winked at him and grinned and I could tell it stirred his blood a little. "Go ahead."

Right when I gave the word, Don had the needle in my arm. It took him all of 3 seconds to pull one whole syringe of blood out and take it away, leaving a small river of it going down my bicep. Don hurried off to another part of the room and out of sight.

As the others got back to work on Leo, I took a minute to examine the hideout. This place was _huge_. The ceiling reached up so far it turned black at the top. All around the walls were what looked like ancient carvings and symbols, dating this place old and useless. There was a small river (probably sewer water) running through the whole room and out one side. I could see that smaller rooms were attached to this one huge piece but this part was probably the most interesting in my eyes.

"He will be alright." The rat's voice was deep and fatherly. I could tell by the way he spoke that he maybe had some kind of Japanese ancestry, if rats had ancestors. "His injuries go further than his flesh. He needs to rest for a few days." He walked up to me. Even though I towered over him considerably, I felt almost afraid of him.

"Can I do anything to help?" I asked to try and ease the tension.

"You can start with your name."

"Sensei, this is the guy we talked about before. Remember, Angel and the Purple Dragons?" Mikey said in my favor.

"So, you are the one who left the Dragons?" He looked up at me. "You are also the one who my sons went to rescue."

"Yah, I guess I kinda owe them for that one." I chuckled and rubbed the back of my neck.

"I know Donatello has his doubts, but Leonardo is no fool. He most likely went to save you because you all share a brotherly connection with each other. I am curious as to how you four got separated in the first place."

I proceeded to tell him the story even though I was still deciding on whether or not I could trust him. I told him, and everyone else, what Zeeke had said to me once I had been put into the holding cell. I told them about the plans they had for me, how they wanted to wipe my memory and turn me into a robo-ninja and the lies/truths Zeeke told me about my haunting past.

"Damn, seems legit though. You strike me as the kind of guy who would escape from a turtle pen in the pet store." Casey laughed.

"I don't know if it's true or not. I remember some of it, like escaping, but I don't remember much after that. I honestly aint buying all the shit he told me about being raised by aliens, though."

"It takes one to know one." Mikey laughed but then shut up after reading my unsatisfied facial expression.

"You cannot immediately rule out an option until you can confirm its certainty or lack thereof." The rat said.

"I aint so worried about my past anymore. Right now I'm just focusing on gettin out from under the Foot's radar." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"That aint ganna be easy and yah know it. The Foot has eyes and ears _everywhere._" Casey added.

"I was startin to come up with some sort of plan…" I sighed and looked down at the ground then back up again.

"Please share." The rat said, sounding determined.

"When Saki had me in his headquarters, he told me he was ganna take down the Dragons. Not too long before that did I find out that he supposedly "killed" Hun who was the leader of that gang." I stopped for a moment to make sure they understood. "I always had this thought about killing Hun myself and taking over the Dragons, maybe turning them into decent criminals."

"What's your point?" April popped a hip.

"If we take down the leader of the Foot, Saki, we can shut the whole system down." I proposed.

They exchanged glances for a quick second and then slowly started to nod their heads in agreement.

"What about after you have control? Do we just let you run the Foot then and cause chaos?" Don was back.

"No, we just destroy the whole thing, period."

"'We'?" He cocked his head at me.

I shook by head in disbelief. "You're right. I guess it's askin' too much for help from you people."

"Why should we help you? You're a criminal!" He pointed at me and scowled. "Once you're free from the Foot you'll go back to your old ways! You won't change!"

"How do you know?" I approached him until our plastrons were touching and his breath crashed on my skin and radiated back at him. "I'll be honest, _Donnie_." I lowered my voice but kept it on the level of intimidating. "I may have done a lot of stupid shit, but wouldn't you have done the same if you were in my position?" I shook my head at him in disgust.

He stayed silent.

"Just because you and I get different ideas when we see things doesn't mean I can't change." I poked him hard in the chest so he staggered a foot backwards.

"But do you _want_ to change, is what I'm asking you."

"I don't know. If you're what "good" is supposed to be then you can count me out." I swiped my arms across each other and walked away.

"What if you don't have a choice?" He asked, so I stopped. "What if we force you to change because we care?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"If you were just some ordinary mutant turtle, I could probably throw you out of here and not think twice about it for all the trouble you caused us. I might even turn you over to the cops myself."

I slowly started to walk back towards him.

"But…I guess Leo would say that brothers have to look out for each other, even if they are delusional." He looked at the ground.

"I'm guessing the blood test went well?" Mikey looked ready to rocket through the roof.

"The DNA's a match…looks like he was telling the truth after all."

"Big step for Dragon." Casey winked at me.

"NO WAY!" Mikey was on me like a leech in 2 seconds. He had jumped across the table and landed on my back. "It's like a complete set now! Ultimate collector's addition!"

"Yeah yeah." I tried not to show my contentment on the topic, but I did manage a smile. This changed everything and now I got to beat up the Foot for hurting Leo.

I usually wasn't the type of guy to get emotional over anything, but this one time I allowed myself the internal joy from this moment. I considered myself lucky to have and have encountered my real family. I grew up all my life thinking I was alone in the world, a reject, freak of nature (which I still was) but now I got to share the burden and maybe take some weight off my chest. The only downside about this was our _extreme_ differences. I'm a cold-blooded killer and criminal. They're superheroes.

"Leo would be so thrilled to know this!" Mike continued jump on me, failing to knock me over.

"He knows." April smiled while rubbing the top of Leo's head with her cloth. "He _is_ awake you know."

I threw Mikey on the ground like a ragdoll and went over to the table side.

"I would have raised you differently." He smiled up at me but the look in his eyes said nothing but pain.

"You, raise me? You're my brother not my father." I returned the smile.

"That's what leaders do. They raise their followers to be good people."

"I'm not good people." I dropped the smile to a half.

"We'll work on it through hard work and well needed training. But don't go running around and saying you're my brother yet without changing your attitude first."

I just stared at him with all these things running through my head. Even though this mystery had been solved, it only opened a million other doors for more to fall in its place.

"What if I don't want to stay here?" I did want to stay but I wanted to know if leaving them was an option. I didn't feel I needed Leo's permission to go, but I knew they would probably come after me if I left. Don especially since he would probably try to kill me.

"You're confused, hurting, and damaged. Letting you go would be like leaving a homeless person on the street to die. Plus you're a mutant turtle, maybe it's best if you stay with your kind." He managed a subtle wink.

"Well we'll see how it goes but I doubt the angelic life will be a good change for me."

"You can manage. I used to be a criminal until I met the guys and look how I turned out." He smiled and gestured to himself.

"Oh God, please! Not another Casey Jones!" Mike shrieked.

"I am thrilled I have another member of this family. Just as Leonardo, Michelangelo and Donatello are my sons, you are too without question. I know we do not know much about each other yet, we will make up those lost years, I promise." The rat walked up to me and placed one of his paws on my arm. "My name is Splinter, but you can call me Sensei or father if you wish." He smiled, showing small pointed teeth.

"Raphael, if you didn't already know since I can see I'm talked about a lot around here." I grinned.

"Oh don't worry, all good things, bro, all good things." Mike lied through his teeth.

"Well then, let's get Leo back into ship shape so we can go catch ourselves a Saki!" Casey rubbed his hands together but then grimaced from the pain while bracing his arm cast.

"Then maybe we can finally get back to our normal lives." Don smiled.

"Bro, our lives were, never, and never will be normal. As a matter of fact, they will always be anything but." Mike jumped back up onto my shell and laughed. "And it's fine by me."

**Hey guys,**

**My life is starting to get really hectic :( I tried to take some time to write but it didn't go so well. I have a job now and I'm doing this modeling program too but I'm going to try to write as often as I can (I need to for the sake of my sanity). I love to write and I don't want to let my job get in the way of it. Chapters might come a little slower but I promise, they will be here!**

**Thanks for understanding (If you can)**

**Love, Embers **


	16. Chapter 16

: Chapter 16:

A month in time had passed quicker than I thought it would have. Even though it felt like a good part of my life had been wasted sitting around an old sewer lair waiting for Casey and Leo to heal, it gave me time to think my plan through. It also helped my brother's and I bond better along with April, Casey and Splinter.

Splinter had filled me in on my brother's pasts over that time. He told me everything about how they were created down to how his own past affected the training of them. They were taught some weird ancient ninja, fighting, code, thingy called Ninjitsu. It made sense why had Leo kicked my ass twice already despite my _own_ training.

Casey and I had become closer than I ever thought we would have. Turns out we had more in common than I thought. We both came from troubled, corrupted pasts and shared common interests. At first, we each admired beating the hell out of other people, but to different people. I personally didn't mind who it was but Casey said that only "scumbags" deserved to be treated like the way they treated everyone else. I hadn't agreed with him for the longest time but then I started to realize who the "scumbags" really were, the Dragons and the Foot. Innocent people never did anything to me but I still was so caught up in my own desires that I didn't realize what I was doing. I still felt that way in a sense, the need to control and dominate the less fortunate, but some part of me didn't want to hurt them anymore.

Michelangelo and I clashed heads almost every day. He always had to do something that really pissed me off or drove me up the wall. A few times I had lost my temper and took a few swings at him and I was surprised no one said anything about it. Splinter said he didn't mind because Mike had it coming one way or another.

Donatello was still skeptical with me even though it was him who officially declared us blood brothers. Whenever I walked through the lair I could feel his eyes on me everywhere I went. He didn't talk to me much and only came near me when he had to. I personally wouldn't have minded it had we not been related. It was bad enough I felt like no one trusted me and to have him acting the way he was just made me feel more of an outcast than a brother.

April gave me the same cold shoulder that Donatello was. I had a feeling she was still offended when we first met in her shop a while ago. I also mentioned to her a few days ago that _I_ had thrown the stop sign through her store window after she started ranting about it to the landlord. I think she's trying her best to like me in some way, but I don't blame her if she doesn't. I had put her through a lot and didn't expect much change from her in the near future.

Leo…man where do I start? Splinter said his soul had been damaged in the Foot building. However the hell that was possibly I really didn't know. He said Oroku Saki was also trained with a Ninjitsu background and was capable of attacking more than just the flesh of a person. I'll be honest; it made some goose bumps rise on the back of my neck when he said it. It took Leo's open wounds only days to heal but the rest of him just recovered yesterday. He was back to his old self for the most part and determined to figure out a way to stop the Foot before they could come after me again.

I personally went through more change then I could handle. I allowed Splinter and April to give me fashion tips that ultimately ended with me losing my black uniform and exchanging it for elbow and knee pads. I felt a bit different from my brothers though even though I looked like them now. Especially when Splinter had to make me my own elbow and knee pads when the others' wouldn't fit my oversized arms and legs. Mike suggested I start eating more salad. He never said it again.

"Ok, so!" Mike paced the living room while we all sat on the couches and listened. "We need a game plan!" He raised one finger in the air.

"Kill Oroku Saki and claim New York City as our own!" Casey rubbed his hands together and shouted triumphantly.

"Can we please take this seriously, guys?!" Leo ordered.

"As I was saying…this is who we're up against." He used his fingers to count enemies. "Oroku Saki, the Foot, and the Dragons."

"Yah forgot Hun." I mentioned.

"Oh…I completely forgot about him." Don said.

"We can't count Zombified Hun." Mike argued.

"No…we have to. It shows us what the Foot is capable of. They somehow managed to brainwash Hun just like they were going to do to Raphael. Didn't you guys notice he wasn't acting like himself?" Leo asked while Mike and Donnie slowly nodded. "So we have to make sure they can't do that to any of us. We have to understand that."

"Ok, so that's settled." Mike clapped his hands.

"They brainwashed Hun?" Casey asked, making Mike smack his hand against his forehead. "Damn. Did they fix his ugly face too?"

"Moving right along! Now, weapons. Sensei, if you would do the honors." Mike gave the rat the floor was was carrying something in a round cloth.

"I had the time to meditate on this matter and you know you cannot go into battle mentally unprepared or physically unprepared." He unfolded the cloth, revealed a bunch of shiny, new, steel, weapons. I couldn't wait to get my hands on one of them.

"Do not ask where I got them; just be thankful they are yours to have." Splinter grabbed a short, purple stick and handed it to Donnie. He took a minute to flip it around in his hands and then pressed something on the side of it that caused it to release two longer, metal sides out of each end. Don's face illuminated as he twisted it furiously and gracefully around his fingers. The whooshing sound as it went was enough to make my blood start pumping. Even though Don and I didn't see eye to eye, I admired that he was one wicked ninja with that staff of his.

"Michelangelo…" Splinter handed Mikey two nun chucks with a long chain connecting the two. He looked like he already knew what he was getting but he acted surprised anyway. He pressed a small button on either weapon that caused a sickle blade to appear on each end of them.

"Leonardo…" Splinter had Mikey hold the cloth as he used two hands to pull out the most beautiful weapon I had ever seen. It shined perfectly and the sharpness of its edges was profound at just the right angle. The handle was a dark, lapis blue with a golden grip.

"Sensei…" Leo was awestruck. We all were.

"This was the Nagamaki of my Sensei. It has been passed down through 12 generations." He demonstrated a few moves before passing it down to the anxious Leonardo. "I know you will take care of it just like you have taken care of your brothers. It is yours."

Leo stood up off the couch and bowed before Splinter. I thought it was a little weird that they did that but Leo said it was all out of respect and needed to be done. I didn't believe it because no one ever bowed to me.

"Raphael…" Splinter was suddenly in front of me while I was imagining Mikey bowing to me. I wiped the grin off my face and looked him in the eyes as he handed me my Sais. There was nothing special about them. They were just my old Sais.

"Umm…thanks?" Maybe he didn't trust me enough yet to give me a new weapon. I felt embarrassed and cheated at the same time now that everyone was looking at me.

"Do you know why I have given you this?" Splinter asked me.

"Umm…to kill the bad guys?"

He hit me on the head with his walking stick.

"I'm sorry I don't know." I sighed deeply in frustration.

"Even though I want you to move on from your past, I do not want you to forget it. Your Sai play an important part of who you are, even if it is not the person we all wish you to be. Years of damage cannot be repaired, but masked. When a child writes on the wall with marker that will not come out, the parents paint over it with new paint, concealing the wound." He put on of his hands on my shoulders and nodded.

I couldn't believe I understood what he was saying to me…because I didn't.

"Even though the family may forget about the mark, it is still there, damaging the wall beneath the new paint. You cannot forget about your past. Do you understand?"

"Umm…I guess so." I said. If splinter wanted to use my Sais as a reminder of my horrible past, then so be it. I didn't have any problem remembering. If he thinks it can help me improve, then I will take his word for it and at least try.

"I'm tearing up." Mikey brushed away a fake tear. "NOW THEN!" He clapped his hands again, moving right along. "Leo can take it from here." He sat down abruptly and gave the floor away. Leo slowly stood up and faced everyone.

"I want to stress on what Raphael said a month ago. A team isn't a team without a leader. If we take down Oroku Saki, the whole Foot clan will spiral into chaos." He sounded brave, blunt and resolute.

"That's ridiculous. The Foot probably has a backup leader if anything were to happen to Saki." Don contradicted.

"It's Karai." April sighed.

"Who?" I asked.

"Saki's daughter." She answered. "The guys have had their fair share of encounters with her."

"Lucky for you guys I thought everything through." Leo grinned. "April and I did our research before coming to a conclusion. Karai is leaving for Japan tomorrow morning by order of Saki on a "business" trip. By the time she gets back, there will be nothing for her to come back to."

"How long will she be there?" I asked.

"One week." He retorted.

"That's not enough time." I slammed my fist into the arm of the couch.

"Not enough time for what? It won't take us 7 days to get Saki." He put his hands on his hips.

"Look, we've been inside the Foot building and it aint pretty. We barely made it out of that scuffle with Hun and may I remind _you_ about what happened." I gestured to his body. "However, what if we had some help?"

"No one is ganna want to help a bunch of mutants." Mike said.

"Maybe they will, if we control them." I grinned. I could feel my villainous side coming out as I spoke. Looks like my years of experience was finally getting put to good use.

"I'm listening." Leo sounded interested.

"The Dragons don't have Hun anymore to lead them. Like I said before, what's a gang without its leader?" My plan was making goose bumps rise all over my skin. "If I could get control of them then we could use that against the Foot. They know who I am and what I'm capable of, they'll listen."

"No offense there, Raph, but remember the last time the Dragons and the Foot went one on one? Now _that_ wasn't pretty." Casey snorted.

"That was because they had some wannabe leadin' them. We could turn that team into something spectacular and worth using."

"If _we_ can regroup the Dragons then what's to stop Karai from regrouping the Foot?" Leo had on a slight smirk as he spoke to me. He found incomparable joy in denouncing me.

"What's to stop us from _brainwashing_ the Foot?" I looked into his eyes and leaned back into the couch. "It's obviously possible."

The whole group looked at each other and pondered what was just said. After a few brief moments…they seemed to be impressed.

"I'm starting to like the way you think." I was surprised to find out that came from Don's mouth.

"He thinks like a criminal. I like it." Casey laughed.

"So…Raph takes over the Dragons, trains them into not be so crappy, uses them to help penetrate the Foot building, we kill Saki, brainwash the Foot soldiers, and make it home in time for dinner?" Mike asked.

"More like make it home in time before Karai does." April stated.

"All this is easier said than done, my sons." Splinter was rubbing the bottom of his chin with his hand. "But it sounds doable."

"So, do we have a plan?" I asked Leo. He stayed frozen with his eyes locked into space and one of his two toes tapping slightly on the ground. He took a moment to look at each and every one of us before speaking again.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I think we've got ourselves a plan."


	17. Chapter 17

**Thanks for sticking with me even though things have been getting hairy over on my end of the world. But like I promised, I will not give up!**

: Chapter 17:

I left shortly after 9pm when the city was freshly dark and horrid. The sky was crystal clear and somehow made the shine of the stars look ten times brighter than they usually were. It was practically day.

Leo had arranged all the details of our plan in a way that he believed would work best. I figured he had years of experience backing him up so I tried my best to not object. But I did anyway, of course.

He had wanted someone to go with me tonight, to help protect me if anything went wrong. I told him I could work faster and more efficiently if I could move around freely without having to babysit someone else. He said he wouldn't allow it, but then for some reason he let me go and for that exact reason, I kept looking behind me to see if I was being followed. I know I am, I aint as dumb as I look.

I stopped running and looked behind me again. It was driving me insane. I knew I was being followed! I almost called out for the stalker to show itself but I wouldn't rather blow my cover. I growled to myself and kept running across the rooftops.

The Foot had two bases; one at the edge of the river and one in the center of the city. I didn't know who I would find at either of those so I had to check both. However, Angel had mentioned that she saw Foot ninja around the base by the river. If that was the case, then the Dragons wouldn't be there. There is also the possibility that they're roaming the streets or maybe even dead. I didn't know what to expect but I had to try.

I turned around again and stopped running. There was no way Casey could be following me with his stealth level being zero, so maybe it was one of my brothers. _Or_, maybe Leo actually let me go on my own.

NAH

I kept going forward. I could see the river base in the distance. It wasn't hard to miss with its crumbling roof and broken windows. I was surprised the city mayor didn't have it torn down by now.

I jumped off the last rooftop and landed on the cement. I would have to walk through the crate field from here. Boats would leave their delivery crates here whenever they made a shipment. Back in the day, the Dragons scared them all away so now these babies were practically ours. We had arranged them in a pattern so it was easy for us to hide among them in case of an attack. Luckily I still remembered the path.

Or did I?

By the third one, I was lost. I sighed in frustration and jumped up onto the metal crates. The spaces between each one was pretty lengthy, but enough for a trained professional like me to jump across. I started to make my way over the tops and not long after that did I hear a loud bang from behind me. See, I told you I was being followed.

I didn't bother freaking out, I knew it was Casey. I jumped nonchalantly back to where I heard the noise and looked down onto the cement.

"Well, well, well what do we have here?" I put my fists on my hips. Casey was upside down with his legs up against one of the crates.

"That hurt." He moaned. His hockey mask had fallen off and landed next to him. "It was Leo's idea."

"I Figured that." I jumped down and threw his legs off the crate so he could get up. "If he's tryin to piss me off he's doin a good job."

"Listen!" He got up but wobbled around before finally standing still and putting his mask back on. "Yah don't know what's out here and yah need some help. There aint nothing wrong with a little help from your friends." He started humming a stupid tune that made me want to stab him in the back with a Sai.

"How can I get rid of you?"

He stopped humming and climbed on top of a crate. "Yah can't. I'm a no refund service."

"Well then I hope yah come with a warranty." I jumped up next to him and threw him across to the next crate. He landed on his back and almost fell off on the other side.

"Oh, so yah wanna talk smack, huh?"

I grinned and joined him on the other side. "No, I want to find the dragons and take down Saki. You're just ganna slow me down." I walked past him and moved on. He struggled to keep up with me but when he did, he made huge, monstrous sounds whenever he landed.

"What's green and red and green and red and green?" He asked, coming up next to me. "…Raphael falling off a crate." He pushed me hard on the back but only gave me momentum to the next jalopy. He swore under his breath when I came up unscaved.

"Yah can't be cool, Casey. Nature doesn't allow it."

"April thinks I'm cool."

"Oh really? And what drugs is she on again?"

"Damn, Raph, that was deep." He jumped over and I had to catch him to keep him from falling again.

"Shhh. We're here." I silenced him and jumped down onto the ground. I was surprised to find the front entrance wide open. "Be ready for anything. These bastards know how to pull a fast one."

I retrieved my Sais from my belt and started to slowly creep inside. It looked the same; little to nothing had been changed except the missing weapons rack over in the corner. All the boxes were still there too, with everything inside them.

"A dragon!" He yelled out.

"WHERE?!" I turned around in every direction looking for it. Once I didn't see anything, I heard Casey sigh and pat my shoulder.

"Oh, Raph, you scared me. It's just you."

"Can't you take anything seriously?!" I punched him in the gut the butt of my Sai. He fell over onto the ground and started to moan.

"Hey, looks like someone was here." Casey pointed behind me to the back left corner of the warehouse.

I turned around and looked. There was a small mattress with blankets thrown over it and a pair of pink and purple sneakers. The chip bags and half empty water bottles told me it had been recently used. I walked over and picked up the shoes curiously. There was only one girl in the whole world who wore shoes as ugly as these ones.

"To bad yah don't wear shoes cuz those would look _great_ on you." Casey laughed silently, wobbling over to me.

"Refresh my memory, Casey. Why don't I just tie yah to a pole and leave you here? Is there any good reason?"

"Come on, Raph, I'm only teasing." He punched my arm and grabbed the shoes. "Maybe April will want em?"

"No" I swiped them back. "Yah claimed to be so fond of that girl and now yah can't even recognize her shoes when yah see em'!" I waved them in his face.

"I'm sorry that I don't look at people's feet when they approach me." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"These are Angel's!" I yelled.

"Angel?...OH ANGEL! She's supposed to be at her grandma's though."

"No shit!"

When it finally struck him that Angel had snuck out, yet again, he frowned and became irritated. "When I find her I'm ganna…" He pounded his fists together.

"God, yah tell that girl to do one simple thing!" I said to myself and threw her shoes on the bed.

Casey and I stayed quiet for a minute. I knew I was thinking about what to do with Angel when she came back but I wasn't sure if Casey was doing any thinking at all.

"So what do we do?" He asked. Point proven.

"I don't know. She aint safe here and the lair is too far away at this point to take her back there to be baby-sitted." I sighed and took one of my Sais and laid it next to her shoes.

"What you're just ganna leave your weapons here?"

Just then, a small cough came from outside the warehouse so I pushed Casey into the shadows and ducked down behind a crate. A few seconds later, Angel walked in with a plastic grocery back in her hand. Her hair was flat against her back and not in pigtails like the last time I saw her. Her outfit choice was still the same, minus the shoes. She set the stuff on a wooden crate and grabbed a box of crackers before retreating to her bed.

"What the- who's been touching my…" She swallowed hard and picked up the Sai. "I can explain."

"Yah you better!" Casey had come out of hiding and stomped towards her. "You were supposed to stay with your grandma!"

"Casey? What are you doing here?" She greeted him with disgust. "And I did for a while!" She still had that cocky attitude in her tone of voice.

"So why are you _here_?!" He gestured to the building.

At this point I slowly slipped up behind my crate and sat on it. I stayed slightly behind Casey so Ange couldn't see me.

She sighed heavily and looked down at the floor. I suddenly felt bad for being here. I hadn't gone to visit her like I said I would. I had been too caught up with my brothers. "Because…" She started but stopped. "Stuff happened. That's all that should matter, Casey."

"What stuff?" He lowered his voice and approached her more carefully. "Is everything alright?"

"Yah, I just had to leave. Now can you leave?"

"No, you aint safe here. A lot is going on that you don't know about." Casey said.

"I think I have a pretty good idea." She laughed. "I don't know what happened to the Dragons. They just suddenly disappeared so I claimed this place as my own. Pretty cool, huh? Plus, I don't have to pay renters insurance."

"Stop getting off topic. Why aren't you at your grandma's house?" Casey started to get angry again.

"You really wanna know?"

"Yah and Raph does too. Right, Raph?" He turned around and looked at me. I saw Angel peek over but she frowned and looked away. Great, now she hated me.

"I'll tell you Casey, but not _him_."

"Why not? He's a good guy now. Completely house trained, too."

"Maybe what happened wouldn't have happened if you would've visited me like you said you would!" She suddenly grew angry, a key trait of Angels. She shoved past Casey and planted her hands on my plastron and pushed me off the crate. I fell backwards but quickly got up.

"What, yah don't think I tried?!" Whenever Angel got angry, I got angry, and she knew it too. "I couldn't! So much was happening that I couldn't control and I couldn't put you in danger!"

"It's been more than a month! I think you could've found an _hour_ out of your _busy day_ to come and see me!" She tried to punch me across the face but I grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"Yah don't understand, Angel!"

"What is there to understand, Raph?! That you're an asshole?!" She jerked her arm free and pushed a few strands of hair out of her eyes.

When I figured she was done beating on me, I slowly started to explain what had happened.

"Not long after I dropped you off, the Foot attacked us and kidnapped me. Yah I know big surprise." I saw Casey drop his head as I went on. The anger in Angel's eyes started to fade as well. I hope she felt dumb as shit for attacking me before I had time to explain myself. "Once my brothers got me out, we were all wounded and needed time to heal before going after Saki. I honestly had no time. I'm sorry."

"Who's Saki?" She asked.

"The leader of the Foot." Casey said quickly.

"And you killed him?"

"No, we're in the process of killing him." I answered, not wanting to explain any further.

She looked down at the ground and then back at me. "So yah actually have a family?" She raised a brow.

"Yah…apparently there's three more like me and we're related. At least that's what Zeeke and Don said."

She nodded her head up and down. "I hope they aren't as ugly as you." She smiled. "Can I meet them?"

"Yah kind of already did." Casey snickered. "Remember those three turtles…"

"I knew it!" She laughed and poked me in the neck. "I hate their guts but I had a feeling you all were…" She couldn't figure out what to say so she just waved her hands up and down. "That's cool."

"Yah, totally awesome, now why aren't yah at your ma's? I want the truth!" I warned her.

Her happiness faded again and she turned around towards the wall. She sat down on her mattress and tucked her knees up to her chest.

"Angel?" I said, sympathetically. I tried to be nice but my patience was running out.

"A bunch of guys came to my door one night two weeks ago. I thought they were Dragons at first but they sure as hell didn't look like any. It happened so fast…" She trailed off.

"What happened so fast?!" I didn't mean to sound as angry as I did, but I needed her to keep talking. Time was of the essence.

"They tried to grab me but I managed to get away. Gram was asleep on the couch so I screamed as loud as I could to wake her up. When she did…I bet she didn't even see me before they killed her." I few tears started to fall from her eyes and land on her knees. "I jumped out the window and took off down the fire escape. I ran as far as I could and I ended up here. I guess I lost them because no one's been here since."

Casey didn't know what to say. His jaw was partially open and he looked like he wanted to hug her but couldn't. So I did. I sat down next to her and wrapped my arms around her. She leaned her head into the crook of my neck and really began to cry. Now I knew what she meant when she said I could have stopped it if only I had been there.

I was furious that someone had even dared to try and harm Angel. I was even angrier that they caused her to be off on her own for this long. I really didn't need to be tracking down another gang with my other task already in hand, but she was practically my little sister, and she was always my first priority.

"Do you remember what they looked like?" I asked her.

Between sobs, she managed to say they were wearing black pajamas.

"The triple F…" Casey said.

"The what?" I mouthed in confusion.

"The frickin Foot." He swore and landed one of his fists on a post in the warehouse. "How did they know?! How did they know where she was?!"

I immediately knew. "Saki said they've been following me ever since I escaped that damn pet shop. They must've seen me drop off Angel at her Grandma's house."

"And then when you escaped them…" He began.

"They were trying to send me a message." I shook my head and held Angel tighter. If she hadn't escaped that night, I was sure that message would've been her body at my doorstep.

"What are we ganna do now?" She asked me between sobs.

"I'll tell you want we're ganna do." I lifted her chin up with my hand and looked her in the eye. "We're ganna go out, and we're ganna send _them_ a message."


	18. Chapter 18

**I'm going to start writing shorter chapters that way I can upload faster. My job is getting in the way but I'm trying! Lol I'll try shorter chapters for a while and see how it goes.**

: Chapter 18:

Bringing Angel wasn't as bad of an idea as I thought it would have been. I was also surprised when Casey didn't object to her coming along either. For some reason, when I looked at her now, I felt like she could handle herself better then she could before. Maybe experiencing her grandmother's horrific death toughened her up a bit more (not that she wasn't hard as nails already).

I was really curious as to how in the world Angel knew how to get into the hideout in the center of the city. As far as I was concerned, she had never been there, then again, that girl knew how to break into every kind of building you could think of.

"Through here." Angel pulled the back door open and let Casey and I get through. Once she got in, she closed the door and the light from the star-lit sky vanished. We were in complete darkness and I was in heaven.

"Trippy. I smell a t-r-a-p." Casey snorted.

"Keep talkin and you're ganna smell b-l-o-o-d." I warned him. If Casey's loud mouth didn't get us caught, I didn't know what would.

"Come on, guys. The main floor is over here." Angel led the way.

I was glad Angel knew where to go because I sure as hell didn't. Hun never let me come over here and now I was starting to wonder if it was because how close it was to the Foot building.

As we walked through the dark, wooden corridor, a bit of light began to shine in the distance. Once we reached it, we could see wooden boards were keeping us from falling 5 stories under.

"Check it out." Angel pointed downward. I looked through the boards and got just enough visual to see about 15 or 20 Dragons down below.

"Is that it? That's all that's left of the hundreds?" I whispered. I couldn't believe it. The Foot really did on number on these guys.

"I come down here sometimes and watch them. There used to be more but I think they all went home to their families or _somethin_. These must be the ones who were reliant on this gang for shelter and security. They're nothing now." Angel sighed. "I kinda feel bad for em'."

"Don't. Raph here is ganna fix em up. Aren't yah, Raph?" Casey asked confidently.

"You said your plan was to take over the Dragons. _You_ ganna lead em, too?" Angel asked me.

"Well, that's the plan." I said.

"Don't most of them hate you?"

I turned to her and watched a small strip of light dance around her face.

"What makes yah say that?"

"Uh…"

"Look, it's not important. Can we please just go down there and kick butt?" Casey interrupted.

"We're not kickin butt, Casey. We're compromising. Yah can only kick butt if they struggle, which they won't." I pulled out my Sais. "Stay here and if anything happens you'll know when to jump in."

I walked down the corridor and to the nearest flight of stairs. Sadly, the last set of stairs was out in the open of the giant room in the warehouse. This one was almost similar to the one by the docks, but the celling went up higher and the structure was much sounder.

I walked normally down the creaking steps. I wasn't trying to sneak around, I was here on business and I needed them to know I wasn't going to hurt them, even though I wanted to so badly.

"Raphael? Damn we thought you were dead." The first and only Dragon to greet me like this was Lucas. We had been pretty good friends before all this shit happened. "Those ninjas really beat the hell outta you, didn't they?" I could hear the other Dragons growling as I walked into the warehouse.

"You were there?" I asked.

"Look man, whatever happened with you and Hun…most of us had no idea about it. I didn't know he wanted to kill you. Some of them were in on it but…"

"You don't have to explain. Hun didn't want to kill me. That's probably the part you guys didn't know about."

"He didn't? They why did he say he did?" A lot of the other Dragons had gathered tightly around us. I could feel the hate pouring out their ears.

"Apparently he was trying to protect me from the Foot who are now after me. Hun's still alive too, but different. They brainwashed him."

"Damn, they can do that?"

"Yes and it's what they want to do to me. That's why I need your help."

Lucas looked at his pals surrounding him before looking back at me. "I don't know man, we're pretty beat up. I'm doing everything I can just to keep this small group alive from those ninjas and it still isn't enough."

"The Foot is after you too?"

"Yah, word on the street is there trying to wipe out all the gangs in the city. I heard the Thunderbirds got lured to the edge of the river and drowned. I guess we're next, huh? So what exactly do you need help with? I don't know if we can though, man. You aint exactly one of us anymore."

Lucas was right, if they didn't figure out I abandoned them by now then they surely would soon enough. "I know and I left for a good reason. Stuff happened, I met some new people and…" I stopped and changed the subject. "Let's put it this way." I sheathed my Sais. "If you can help get me into the Foot building, you won't have them chasing after you anymore. Your name can be cleared, with them at least."

"You want to get in? Didn't they just take you hostage a month or two ago or was I seeing something else happen?" Lucas popped a hip.

"Yes, they did, and that's how I found out about what they're planning on using me for. Lucas, it won't be good if they get their hands on me and I aint being self-centered here. You and whatever is left of the Purple Dragons will be wiped off the surface of the earth." I swiped me hand across the air.

"What exactly do they want with you?" A Dragon asked.

"I'm not entirely sure but I know they want to use me as some sort of weapon. They said they can take out all my memories and implant new ones, make me a sort of slave or something." For a slight moment, I felt completely in power as all eyes were on me. They were listening and taking in what I had to say as if I was already their leader.

Lucas sighed and rubbed one hand across his sandy blond hair. Him and the rest of these men looked like they got thrown under a lawnmower. They looked awful, sleep deprived, hungry and exhausted. Looks like the Foot really have them on the run.

"I don't know what to do anymore. We have nowhere else to go and disbanding the Dragons aint an option. If yah think this will clear us up then we'll do it." Lucas finally said and almost immediately a few of the Dragons started to protest.

"Listen up!" It was time for me to take charge and show these low lives who was boss. Lucas looked like the leader now but soon it wouldn't be that way anymore. "You're all more than welcome to walk out that door." I pointed to the exit. "But don't you think for a second that the Foot doesn't have your name on a piece of paper with "exterminate" written across the top of it. Yah can try to run somewhere else and be safe…but they'll find you and rip your guts out just like they did a month ago. Don't remember? Then leave and get a good reminder. So who's feeling lucky?" I paused and looked each and every one of them in the eye. A few of them I recognized and wouldn't have expected to see here. Some of them I hated; some of them I loathed. After a minute, no one had left. "Good, let's talk details."

"Yes lets." Casey came down the stairs with Angel close behind him. You wouldn't believe how quickly all the Dragons pulled out there weapons and jumped into a defensive position.

"Don't piss all over yourselves!" I put my hands up in the air. "I knew yah guys hated Casey but I didn't know yah hated him _this_ much." I looked at him crossly.

"Right, about that…"

"What's that asshole doing here?!" Lucas shouted out.

"He's on our side. Well, he's helping me escape which means he's also helping you escape. Once this is all done and over, yah can beat the hell outta each other till your hearts contend." I grabbed the hockey stick from Casey's hand and chucked it across the room. "For now, I'm in charge and you _are_ going to get along." No one said anything when I announced I was in charge. Not even Lucas attempted to dissent.

"Now, I aint sugar coatin' anything for you people. Ya'll suck at kicking ass. Always have, always will UNLESS we do something about it." I started to pace with my hands behind my back. "You can expect lots of training whether yah like it or not because the fact is, yah don't stand a chance against the Foot."

They looked at each other and nodded in agreement. "We have approximately one week to get all…" I counted heads "19 of you in shape and well disciplined. I'm not sure who will be training you yet but just know its ganna happen."

"What will we be doing?" Lucas asked.

"You will be coming with us to the Foot building and escorting us inside so we can get into Oroku Saki's headquarters and take care of him. He is and never again will be the leader of the Foot." I grinned. As far as I could tell, they liked the idea of getting even with the Foot.

"Any questions?" I asked.

"When do we begin?" Lucas returned my grin.


End file.
